The Rolls-Royce Art Programme champions prominent artists of international merit. As a benefactor partner, the marque enables artists to realise significant projects, explore innovative ideas and engage with audiences in new ways. Through these collaborations, Rolls-Royce celebrates a shared ethos of excellence in creativity and craft.
Dan Holdsworth’s work explores the relationship between landscape, photography, science and technology. Rolls-Royce commissioned him to create a piece that would explore and investigate both real and virtual representations of a frozen landscape. His use of digital mapping data expands the photographic process and explores the changing nature of human perception as our understanding of science and technology evolves.
Holdsworth’s investigations into our imaginative relationship to place and landscape have focused upon ‘presenting the unpresentable’, through the use of new imaging technologies that allow us to understand our planet. His exploration of what lies beyond our understanding, and beyond ‘the naked eye’, goes beyond the camera lens even whilst employing it.
Brooklyn-based artist José Parlá first emerged onto the underground Miami art scene in the 1980s, experimenting with various art forms, colour and abstract calligraphy. Since then, he has gained worldwide critical acclaim for his huge wall-scale works, which reimagine the chaos and rush of the metropolis in photorealistic fragments of paint.
As part of the Rolls-Royce Art Programme, Parlá returns to his native Miami Beach for an immersive installation called Roots. Set in the Jewel Box as part of the National YoungArts Foundation, his work explores the connections between past and present, both in his own family history and the building itself. Parlá explained, “My old friend once said, ‘Without roots the tree won’t grow.’ This has always stuck with me and remained present in the process of my work over the years.”
The pioneering Chinese filmmaker and photographer, Yang Fudong, is known for work that both respects tradition, and embraces modern techniques. So on a visit to the Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood, he was inspired by the artisanal practices used to craft the marque’s motor cars first hand.
For the Art Programme, Fudong is creating a short film. Based on Chinese mythology – and the virtues of perseverance and will power – the concept is one he’s held close for a long time, and one which he can now finally see become a reality. His commission was launched in Shanghai in December 2016.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars recently commissioned renowned Emirati artist Mohammed Kazem on a unique project. Known for his interest in using latitude and longitude co-ordinates in his work, the sculpture is expected to follow true to form.
He spent time at the Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood, working alongside and being inspired by the craftspeople there. So much so, that he decided to put them at the heart his piece. But the inspiration was mutual. The sculpture itself was also the inspiration for a Bespoke motor car, which was crafted in parallel. Both were revealed alongside each other towards the end of 2016.
Recognised globally as one of the most renowned Indian artists of his generation, Sudarshan Shetty’s enigmatic, sculptural installations have been exhibited widely around the world. He was also recently appointed the Artistic Director for the Kochi-Muziris Biennale.
Shetty’s commission for the Rolls-Royce Art Programme will be a film installation based on an Indian folk tale, taking the form of a two-channel film and sculpture. The commission was revealed alongside his existing Flying Bus project, in Mumbai in November 2016, before it moved to New Delhi.
Isaac Julien’s Stones Against Diamonds is a video installation commissioned by Rolls-Royce. Filmed in Iceland’s remote glacial ice caves, the work was inspired by a letter written by the Brazilian modernist architect and designer, Lina Bo Bardi.
Within the film, the artist explores Bardi’s love of semi-precious stones. He incorporates the Rolls-Royce iconic Spirit of Ecstasy, led by the character actress Vanessa Myrie as a ‘spirit guide’ – taking the viewer on a journey from one landscape to another. Isaac’s installation was debuted privately at the Venice Biennale and made its first public appearance at Art Basel in 2015.
Brazilian artist Ana Maria Tavares’ commission for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Deviating Utopias, is an installation that creates a virtual environment. It depicts a blend of technology and craftsmanship, industrial and organic materials, and speed and silence.
Ana Maria Tavares said: “During my recent visit to the Home of Rolls-Royce, I was struck by the way it has a productive function while being like a capsule that suspends time. These elements inspired me to present a work for Rolls-Royce as a virtual immersive environment, creating a dream journey to bridge the rational and organic worldviews.” The work was presented during Berlin Gallery Weekend in 2015.
Morgan Wong’s ambitious commission Untitled – Expressway combines abstract video, archive materials and a narration by a fictional character. He seeks to remind his audience that the process of transformation – and the speed at which it occurs – can deviate from humanity.
The footage was captured while cruising on a route connecting the present heart of Hong Kong to a new town in the city’s prehistoric history. The Spirit of Ecstasy, which adorns each Rolls-Royce motor car, was the main inspiration for the film. As the journey unfolds, the iconic emblem seems to observe the changes in the Hong Kong landscape.
Displayed as a video projection – and also on a screen in the rear compartment of a Rolls-Royce motor car – the audience were able to experience a virtual voyage in an intimate and timeless way. The video was also presented at the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Hong Kong showroom.
Manal Al Dowayan is the Saudi Arabian artist behind I Had No Wings. Containing four wall-sized screens of projected footage combined with sound, the video immersed viewers within its unique sensory experience.
Describing the piece, Al Dowayan said: “The images in this video were collected from the rear compartment of a car driving me around the streets of a city in Saudi Arabia. It addresses the physical and ethereal states of being captured in a moment where you float between the present and future – where many find themselves when the environment surrounding them is in a state of negation.”
The commission was presented during Art Dubai 2015. The cars the artist drew inspiration from were in situ at this particular showing, for audiences to reflect upon and to forge their own creative connections with.
Carlos Rolon’s neon sculpture, Untitled (Opulence), is inspired by the traditional Rolls-Royce Pantheon grille and the Spirit of Ecstasy. Measuring 3 by 3.5 metres, this installation explores movement, lines and the interaction of colour – together with changes of mood and perception.
By juxtaposing the use of neon with a mandala (circle) pattern, the work combines the language of post-minimalism, Pop Art and abstraction. Meditative and therapeutic, it creates a trance-like effect for the viewer.
Untitled (Opulence) appeals to the senses and projects into the future, while telling the story of mythical beauty, energy and ecstasy. The sculpture was unveiled during Art Stage Singapore in January 2015.
Cipher of L. is a Rolls-Royce commission and installation by Berlin-based artist Angela Bulloch. She is known for her interest in systems, patterns and rules – and the creative territory that lies between mathematics and aesthetics.
Cipher of L. is in the form of a ‘pixel box’ that mimics the proportions of Rolls-Royce Phantom and explores the relationship between art, technology and craftsmanship. As the panels of the box change colour, they emit coloured light across the other motor cars in the Rolls-Royce showroom – each an individually commissioned piece of automotive art.
The work was unveiled in October 2014 at the marque’s London showroom in Berkeley Square – on display for three weeks and coinciding with the city’s Frieze Art Fair.
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