BMW announces new long-term partnership with the Städel Museum. Artist Marc Brandenburg has created an exclusive design for a BMW iX1.

Frankfurt am Main. The BMW Group is announcing a new long-term partnership with the Städel Museum, one of the most renowned and oldest museum foundations in Germany. The new collaboration celebrates an exclusive kick-off with the design of the BMW iX1 by artist Marc Brandenburg. With the joint event series STÄDEL INVITES, BMW and the Städel Museum invite visitors to experience contemporary art in a different way.

Together with the Städel Museum Frankfurt, BMW has launched the new STÄDEL INVITES format in the past year. The event series takes place in connection with exhibitions by selected contemporary artists and, through live events with artists, talks, short tours and music, seeks to make contemporary art accessible to a wide audience in a relaxed atmosphere.

As a highlight for the new partnership, the museum’s collection artist, Marc Brandenburg, designed a BMW iX1. Today, 11 July, the vehicle will be presented for the first time in the Städel Garden. Together with Deputy Head of Contemporary Art at the Städel Museum Svenja Grosser, Marc Brandenburg will explain 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.

“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.

Philipp Demandt, director of the Städel Museum: “The Städel Museum and BMW are united by an aspiration: to inspire quality and people. Art plays a key role here – it inspires and motivates us to go further and dare to take new paths. To stand alongside our joint event series, STÄDEL INVITES, and a film series in which contemporary artists also present their works in relation to the Städel collection, the BMW iX1 designed by Marc Brandenburg is truly special. I am delighted by this partnership with BMW. We will achieve a great deal together in the coming years.”

The STÄDEL INVITES series started in October 2022 with German-British artist Michael Müller, with “The Given Day.Castor & Polydeuces”. For Philipp Fürhofer, in May 2023 visitors gained interesting insights into his exhibition “Phantom Islands”, which run at the Städel Museum in Frankfurt until November 5. As part of the evening event to open his exhibition, visitors were able to dive into the contemporary art collection and find out more about exciting connections with the artist’s work. On  December 1, the exhibition with works by Miron Schmückle opens, which will be the focus of the third STÄDEL INVITES.

In the video series “Was bewegt (…)?”, the respective artists from STÄDEL INVITES will give insights into the ideas and creation of their works, their artistic practice and make exciting references to artworks in the Städel Collection.

About Marc Brandenburg
Marc Brandenburg lives and works in Berlin. He was born there 1965 and spent the majority of his childhood between 1968 and 1977 in the USA, before he and his family returned to West Berlin in 1977. As a young adult, he came into contact with the Berlin club scene of the 1980s at an early stage, working as a bouncer, until teaching himself – and ultimately dedicating himself to – fashion and its design at the end of the 1980s, before moving into fine art at the end of the 1990s. Drawing is at the heart of Marc Brandenburg’s artistic creation. 

BMW Group partnerships in the area of fine art
BMW Group supports leading museums, art fairs and platforms all over the world. Alongside the Art Basel in Basel, Miami Beach and Hong Kong, BMW collaborates with, among others, the Frieze art fair in London, New York and Los Angeles, as well as the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in India and the Gallery Weekend Berlin.

In the German museum landscape, BMW Group is connected, by means of a long-standing partnership, with the Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig (MdbK). As part of the new opening of the BMW plant in Leipzig, the photo collection “AutoWerke” – with works by artists including Thomas Demand, Thomas Struth, Candida Höfer and Rineke Dijkstra – was gifted to the city’s Museum of Fine Arts in 2005. The BMW Leipzig branch and BMW Group have regularly supported the museum with purchases and exhibitions since then.

In addition, BMW supports the “Premio BMW de Pintura” in Spain and the Berlin National Gallery prize; both are targeted at promoting young art. The Academy of Fine Arts Munich is supported with an exhibition space in which students independently curate their works and installations.