Great art for a good cause: Porsche Taycan Art Car!

Photos by Porsche

In collaboration with the well-known American artist Richard Phillips, Porsche's first all-electric sports car, the Taycan, has become a unique work of art. The Taycan Artcar was created live in December last year in the Leuehof pop-up restaurant on Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse and is a one-off. With the support of the auction house RM Sotheby's, the mobile work of art will be auctioned in a worldwide online auction from April 6th to 13th, 2021. The entire auction proceeds will benefit the non-profit Swiss association Suisseculture Sociale. With their donation, Porsche Schweiz AG and the project partners are supporting Swiss cultural workers whose industry has been particularly hard hit by the corona pandemic.

2021 Porsche Taycan Art Car

Michael Glinski, CEO Porsche Schweiz AG: “Porsche made company history with our first all-electric sports car, the Porsche Taycan. In collaboration with a renowned artist, we wanted to capture and perpetuate this milestone. This is how the work of art was created under the thematic guidelines of sustainability and electromobility and with a strong focus on Swiss nature. With the auction and donation of the proceeds, we would like to make a contribution to the preservation of the Swiss cultural scene, which has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic. Porsche steers safely through the crisis. We would like to give something back to society. "

The pop-up restaurant Leuehof by Nenad Mlinarevic and Valentin Diem, where the mobile work of art was created and exhibited, is also badly affected by the pandemic. Porsche is partner of the restaurant for a while and exhibited the first all-electric Porsche sports car as an Artcar in the Artspace there. The Leuehof had to close in December of last year due to the measures adopted to contain the corona pandemic. The restaurant will not reopen due to the regulations still in force. For this reason, the Taycan Artcar is touring through various Porsche Centers in Switzerland and can be viewed: from March 1st at the Porsche Center in Geneva and from March 22nd at the Porsche Center in Zurich. After the auction, the Artcar will be in the Porsche Center Zug, where it will be handed over to the highest bidder.

The artist and his work of art

With the Taycan Artcar, the collaboration between the New York-based artist Richard Phillips and the German sports car manufacturer is entering the second round. Phillips designed a Porsche Artcar in 2019 - together with the former Porsche works driver Jörg Bergmeister. The Porsche 911 RSR from Project 1 Motorsport made history at the 24 Hours of Le Mans: With its victory in the GTE-Am class, it became the first Artcar ever to win what is arguably the toughest endurance race in the world.

Richard Phillips transferred his large-format painting “Queen of the Night” onto the body of the Porsche Taycan 4S for the Taycan Artcar. The picture was created in 2010 based on the work of the legendary Swiss landscape painter Adolf Dietrich. The work shows a three-dimensional arrangement of elements and details of the painting, which is around eight square meters in size, and extends organically from the front hood over the front fenders and over the doors, and with the leaves of the night bloomer gives a feeling of speed. "The whole blaze of colors of Queen of the Night unfolds at the rear of the car, where the flower of the 'Queen of the Night' completely envelops the bumper and is impressively illuminated by the Taycan's characteristic horizontal light bar," says Phillips.

“The starting point for the design concept of my Queen of the Night was the Taycan as an immediately recognizable symbol for electric mobility and speed. Its lines and shape were given to it by the Porsche designers, who wanted to convey this feeling at first sight. I really appreciate this endeavor. The decision to work with my Dietrich-inspired painting was based on the idea of ​​reflecting the natural environment with its beauty and composition in harmony with the curved lines of the Taycan. Dietrich's close relationship with the landscape was more than just a representation of his surroundings. It should give expression to the soul of Switzerland and Lake Constance. For this his art is recognized worldwide, and it is something that moved me deeply. "

The renowned art critic and author Gianni Jetzer, curator of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington DC, describes the Taycan Artcar as follows: “The breathtaking blue tones of the sky and Lake Constance, which frame an ingenious composition of succulent plants, create an image of calm and Purity that corresponds to the emission-free sports car. In contrast to the Italian futurists over a century ago, who - fascinated by the loud roar of gasoline engines - conjured up images of speed, smoke and frenzy, Phillips is creating an even faster, naturalistically inspired vision of electrified sports mobility in the 21st century, which the Landscape that it travels through, reflects, integrates and is sustainable towards it. "

Live foiling in the pop-up restaurant

Like the wrapping of the 911 RSR in Le Mans in 2019, that of the Taycan was also implemented by the German vehicle design specialists SIGNal Design. Phillips' work of art was printed in full size on vinyl in new perspectives and angles according to the artist's ideas and then applied to the vehicle with the help of hot air guns. "It is always a great honor for us to be able to be creative with Richard Phillips, he is an icon," says SIGNal Design Director Markus Schaeffler. “We were able to experience him as extremely down-to-earth and have been on friendly terms ever since. I'm very pleased. ”In December of last year, the SIGNal Design team wrapped the Taycan as a show wrapping for a week in the Leuehof pop-up restaurant.

Support for Swiss cultural workers

The Taycan Artcar auction takes place online at RM Sotheby's and is aimed at interested parties from all over the world. The auction starts on April 6, 2021 and runs for seven days until April 13 www.rmsothebys.com. Its content also includes an individually and exclusively designed visit to Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, the birthplace of the Porsche Taycan, with the series manager of the Taycan from Porsche AG. The Artcar itself was equipped with additional, unusual customizations by Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur: the door sill trims appear with the lettering “Queen of the Night”, the door projectors light up Phillips' signature on the vehicle surface when the door is opened.

All partners of the project - from artist Richard Phillips to RM Sotheby's to Basel Galerie Weiss Falk - waive a commission or commission in favor of the good cause. Porsche Schweiz AG is bringing the Porsche Taycan 4S and the other contents of the auction into the auction in its entirety. The entire proceeds will be donated to Suisseculture Sociale.

With the project, Porsche not only wants to generate financial resources for the association, but also to raise awareness for its work. Nicole Pfister Fetz, President of Suisseculture Sociale: “We are very grateful for Porsche's commitment to the Swiss cultural scene and of course we hope for a high auction price. Every penny goes to Swiss cultural workers who are in dire straits as a result of the pandemic and who fall through all grids. "

The support of the association Suisseculture Sociale is aimed at all professional and full-time cultural workers who live in Switzerland or who have Swiss citizenship, regardless of their branch. Suisseculture Sociale was founded 20 years ago to support cultural workers and is independent of the public sector. During the pandemic, the association was commissioned by the Swiss Confederation to organize the federal corona emergency aid for cultural workers. The donation proceeds from the auction of the Taycan Artcar are intended for those hardship cases that fall through their grid.

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Great art for a good cause: Porsche Taycan Art Car!

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