Hockney Creates His 'Art Car' at Designworks

Designworks / USA, auto maker BMW's design studio in Newbury Park, served as artist David Hockney's base recently when he created the 14th annual version of the BMW "Art Car."

Hockney spent 2 1/2 days at the studio redecorating a BMW 850CSi.

It was the latest in a line of Art Cars that started in 1975. Such artists as Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and Alexander Calder have painted BMWs since then.

Hockney used a collection of long brushes to paint every inch of the car. His version included stylized intake manifolds on the hood, a steering column, a driver on the door and a dachshund in the rear seat.

The Hockney 850CSi was shipped to Hamburg to be exhibited as part of a retrospective of the artist's work.