Art-Car César Manrique

Content

The internationally renowned artist César Manrique was born in 1919 in Arrecife on the island of Lanzarote. Even before studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid, he entered the public eye with his non-objective art. Despite his great success in New York, where he met artists such as Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, and Roy Lichtenstein, he returned to his native Canary Islands in 1968. There he began to shape the volcanic island to an almost unimaginable extent as a painter, sculptor, architect, and landscape designer.

He achieved the incredible: from the dreary lava strands, he formed countless buildings, objects, and structures of exotic beauty. The true essence of his life, however, was painting, in which he was innovative and, in many respects, groundbreaking. César Manrique died in an accident on September 25, 1992.

Nine months earlier, we shot this elaborate film about Manrique and his BMW Art Car with a German team. Even before César Manrique, renowned artists such as Frank Stella, Andy Warhol, and Roy Lichtenstein had designed BMWs.

During the course of filming, the close proximity to Manrique and extensive conversations about his life and work enabled what were probably the last film recordings with him. The film tells of the power of colors and forms in his works, of the unexpected beauty in the barrenness of Lanzarote, and of the creation of the Art Car. Preserving the natural harmony in things: César Manrique's microcosm.

The finished film accompanied the BMW Art Car to various exhibitions around the world (Louvre, Prado, and many more), visualizing the creation process.

Broadcast

• American cable tv,
• Deutsche Welle,
• BMW Tv

Technical Data

• Original title: Bewegung in Farbe
• Corporate-Film, 1991
• Duration: 18 Minutes Format: 16 mm, Farbe

Crew

Availability

DVD