Bucharest. “Blue Hero” is the result of a
two-year endeavor of artist Adrian Mitu, a journey to create an art
installation picturing the special history of BMW. In preparation of
this project, Adrian Mitu originally created “Blue Coffee”, a live
painting marathon of 101 paintings done in watercolor, dedicated to
the 100th anniversary of the brand. It was both an exercise of
storytelling and an exploration of BMW’s history. “Blue
Coffee”, the title of the project, referred to an association
between “blue”, BMW’s defining color, and coffee which, in
this instance, was a special pigment Mitu used in combination with his watercolors.
The “Blue Hero” installation now is an evolutionary step in
Adrian Mitu’s art. The name was inspired by the first project, but
this time highlights one single defining figure for the BMW brand –
Jochen Neerpasch.
“Beyond cars and technology, people’s stories are stronger. They
create fascination and give substance to a brand story. From my point
of view, Mr Jochen Neerpasch has truly transformed BMW. Much of what
BMW stands for today was created by Neerpasch more than 40 years ago –
from BMW M to the BMW Art Car program. So he was the obvious choice as
my Blue Hero”, explains Mitu.
“Blue Hero” consists of 15 panels which when combined
create an impressive storyboard of 1.8 meters by 4.5 meters in size.
The work follows two stories that spread between the 1940s and 1990s –
the evolution of the BMW brand in parallel to the automotive career of
Jochen Neerpasch. They highlight important milestones for both the
company and Neerpasch in his personal career, such as racecar driving,
the implementation of BMW Motorsport as a standalone company in 1972,
establishing the first major junior team in BMW’s racing history,
facilitating unique competitions such as the BMW M1 Procar
Championship as well as recognizing the potential of the interaction
of art and motorsport by helping Hervé Poulain kick off the first BMW
Art Car by Alexander Calder in 1975 which amounted into a collection
that still continues today.
“Blue Hero” was unveiled this past weekend in a special
presentation at the Baneasa Shopping City in Bucharest. Next to the
publicly presented artworks, the motorsport documentary “Adrenalin”
was screened, an emotional movie about BMW’s evolution in motorsport
which features Jochen Neerpasch as one of the main characters. The
official presentation gathered over 150 journalists, fans and
motorsport professionals. Special guests were Tim Hahne, the director
of Adrenalin, and Jochen Neerpasch himself.
“It was a very impressive journey for me, being in Romania for
the first time. I was pleasantly surprised by the warm welcome, the
interest shown and the enthusiasm of the audience towards motorsport.
Of course, I can’t leave out Adrian and the way he studied my career
as a racing driver and manager in close detail and visualizing it in a
very original way. He is a great artist, and I thank him for the honor
of becoming a Blue Hero,” said Jochen Neerpasch.
The project enjoys exceptional reception. Immediately after the
launch, a presentation in the United States had already been
confirmed, a project in cooperation with BMW Car Club of America.
The team behind the project will now focus on bringing the “Blue
Hero” exhibition to a wider audience around the world, for longer
periods of time, to truly offer a living legend the homage he deserves.
For more information, please contact:
BMW Group România
Alexandru Şeremet
Tel.:
+40-726-266-224
E-mail: alexandru.seremet@bmwgroup.com
Dr Thomas Girst
BMW Group Corporate and Governmental Affairs
Cultural Engagement
Telephone:
+49 89 382 247 53
Fax:
+49 89 382 24418
E-Mail: presse@bmw.de