News: BMW Releases Art Car Series of Famed Artists, Including Jeff Koons and Andy Warhol, in Augmented Reality

One app is continuing to make a name for itself as the go-to platform for celebrity art that transcends canvas and paint and moves in augmented reality.

The Acute Art app's latest example of this comes from the likes of BMW and its stable of fine artists who have spent decades transforming the luxury car maker's vehicles into works of art.

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The first real foray the Acute Art app made into the world of immersive celebrity art involved street art legend KAWS. That AR release on the app allowed users to place the iconic mouse sculpture into their real world settings.

This week, the Acute Art app is launching BMW's Art Car Collection in AR, featuring the works of Jeff Koons, Matazo Kayama, Alexander Calder, Michael Jagamara Nelson, John Baldessari, Ken Done, and Esther Mahlangu. The free app is available for both iOS and Android devices.

"The BMW Art Cars are an essential part of the DNA of BMW's 50-year-long cultural engagement. Finally, they are entering the digital realm and can be accessible everywhere and for everyone," said Pieter Nota, a member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, in a statement.

"I am excited about the collaboration with Acute Art as we both strive for innovation and cutting edge technology. I can't wait to place the Art Cars in my living room and get behind the wheel of these exceptional masterpieces!"

For the uninitiated, BMW's Art Car series has existed since the 1970s, launched by French racecar driver Hervé Poulain and starting with artist Alexander Calder, who painted the BMW 3.0 CSL, which was used in the 1975 24 Hours of Le Mans race.

In the following years, famed artists including Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Robert Rauschenberg have all added their artistic flourish to BMW's vehicles.

Since then, the series has become a staple of the art world, marrying the automotive luxury brand with the world's top artists transforming the cars which are then meant to be displayed as art rather than being driven.

Previously, you could only access these works by either attending an in-person exhibit or by viewing them online. Now, through the power of AR, anyone can bring these historic Art Cars into their own homes. Perhaps the only surprise here is that BMW didn't release these AR constructs as NFT auction items to sell in collaboration with the artists (but maybe that's coming next).

The initial release of the Art Car series is a tease, as BMW plans to release more AR versions in the series in the weeks leading up to Art Basel in Basel, Switzerland in September.