The striking monochrome work won the popular vote among six artists’ submissions presented by Lexus Spain on its customer website. The art car will shortly make its debut at an exclusive media event, hosted by Lexus Spain.

The images of the car were created in the courtyard of Club Alma in Madrid and capture the exceptional detail in the piece. Clap Studio – artists Jordi Iranzo and Angela Montagud – completed their work within a month, inspired by the UX’s key qualities of technology, design, innovation and detail.

At a time when need for the world to pause and contemplate is all the more valuable, Clap Studio sought to express a world where people and nature can coexist in perfect harmony. “Our concept is a Zen garden that represents a state of mind: calm, pure consciousness,” they explained.

The traditional Japanese garden brings together the free and arbitrary character of nature, which will always find ways to grow, with precise and magical qualities perfected by the human hand: symmetry, technology and innovation.

“In our Zen garden, Lexus represents perfect harmony, it is the union of nature, technology and innovation. A man’s creation of geometric lines and impeccable symmetry covered in plant life,” said Iranzo.

“We have used paper, a significant element in Japanese culture, covering the car’s exterior in a form of Lexus vegetation, giving it volume,” Montagud continued. “Light is another essential quality in Japanese art and design and here it transforms the Lexus UX into a living thing. Depending on the position, tone and intensity of the light, it generates changing textures and colours throughout the day.”

The competition also featured entries from artists based in Bilbao, Madrid, Seville, Murcia and Barcelona. All the submissions can be viewed online at https://www.lexusauto.es/estilolexus/lexusuxartcar/.

ART AS AN INSPIRATION

Lexus UX Art Car is a Lexus Spain project design to join the brand with original art through national competition, and international exposure for the winner.

In the first edition the winners were Antoñito and Manolín with their creation Gyorin Kozane (Scale Armour), presented at the 2019 Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille.

The eye-catching creation proved hugely popular with thousands of visitors to the event, one of Europe’s leading festivals of luxury motoring, arts and lifestyles, held in the grounds of the historic Château de Chantilly, near Paris.. The guests were invited to cast a vote for their favourite submission among four finalists, each of whom created a distinctly different treatment of Lexus’ new UX compact crossover.

The results of the public vote were announced by French television broadcaster Denis Brogniart. Second place went to the French art collective Leitmotiv, who created their work live at Chantilly. As the overall winners, Antoñito and Manolín will be hosted as Lexus guests at the 2020 Milan Design Week, one of the world’s principal design showcases where Lexus has had a major presence since 2005.

Antoñito and Manolín – Trini Salamanca and Pablo Parraga – covered the UX with a red and blue organic mesh representing the skin of a fish – a motif that is frequently found in Japanese art and culture. The colourful wrap is a three-dimensional structure made from a bio-epoxy material, superimposed on the car’s bodywork like a canvas. The convergence of contrasting qualities is in the same spirit as the engawa concept the UX designers applied to create a seamless connection between the inside and outside of the vehicle.

Pascal Ruch, Head of Lexus Europe, said: “We are delighted that the UX proved such an inspiration to these talented artists and gave them the opportunity to express their responses to the car and to Lexus with such creative originality. Brave design is one of the pillars of Lexus and this competition is another example of how we are reaching beyond the world of motoring as a luxury brand to nurture emerging, vibrant creative talent.”

Arts & Elegance Richard Mille hosted an appearance of the svelte Lexus LC Convertible Concept, a study for a new open-top version of the LC coupe. Its elegant appearance was complemented by a model who accompanied the car, dressed in an outfit designed by the famous Paris couture house Rochas, famous for its “youth, elegance and simplicity” signature designs. Influenced by the 1960s, the pale pink creation from Rochas’ spring-summer 2019 collection evoked the style of heroines of classic Alfred Hitchcock movies.

Lexus also presented the European premiere of the new, revised RX luxury SUV at Chantilly, a model that will go on sale across Europe later this year.