Today, BMW announced a new long-term partnership with the Städel Museum, one of Germany’s oldest and most esteemed museum foundations. This collaboration kicks off with the design of the BMW iX1 by artist Marc Brandenburg. As a special highlight of this partnership, Marc Brandenburg, an artist from the museum’s collection, has designed a BMW iX1. Today, on July 11th, the vehicle will be unveiled for the first time in the Städel Garden.
BMW has been working closely with the Städel Museum Frankfurt to introduce the STÄDEL INVITES format over the past year. This series of events takes place alongside exhibitions featuring selected contemporary artists. Through live artist events, discussions, brief tours, and music, the aim is to make contemporary art more accessible to a wider audience in a relaxed setting.
We are excited to be expanding our cultural engagement through a new partnership with the Städel Museum – one of Germany’s most significant art museums. The BMW iX1 design created by Marc Brandenburg is the perfect kick-off for a new long-term collaboration that will generate many more inspiring encounters with artists via the STÄDEL INVITES format,” says Ilka Horstmeier, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Human Resources and Real Estate.
Today, 11 July, the vehicle was presented for the first time in the Städel Garden. Together with Deputy Head of Contemporary Art at the Städel Museum Svenja Grosser, Marc Brandenburg explained how he has artistically implemented in the car design the aspects of time, space and speed that are used in his work. From 28 October 2021 to 30 January 2022, the Städel Museum presented the exhibition “Hirnsturm II” with around 130 drawings and a video work by Marc Brandenburg.
The livery of the BMW iX1 is truly distinctive, as one would anticipate. It showcases a captivating blend of sleek black and white lines that appear to symbolize the electric drivetrain of the vehicle. Naturally, as with any abstract art, individual interpretation plays a role, but there’s no denying that this BMW iX1 stands out from other cars on the road.
The canvas model is the BMW iX1 xDrive30. Being an xDrive model, it has two electric motors, one at each axle, which combine to make 308 horsepower (230 kW) and 364 lb-ft (494 Nm) of torque. BMW claims a 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) time of 5.7 seconds and a top speed of 112 mph (180 km/h). Providing the electricity to make that happen is a 64.7 kWh (usable) battery pack which, according to the WLTP cycle, should provide 413–438 km (257 – 272 miles) of range.