Bentley Continental GT Pop Art

BMW had their Art Cars and Mini has specialty celebrity designed automobiles, but Bentley decided to take things a step further and recruit contemporary artist Romero Britto to create the centerpiece for their “Come to my world” exhibition in Germany. The English automaker provided Mr. Britto with a Continental GT as a canvas, prepared with a Bentley Blue base coat for the South Florida artist to get to work.

The car is covered in colorful, comic-like figures featuring a large multi colored flower on the hood, winged heart on the driver’s door, ladybug inspired door mirrors and a few orange and purple stars. The negative space is covered with Britto’s recognizable signature, similar to the mathematical symbol for pi; it is consists of a “T” followed by a squiggly line that sometimes goes down like a backwards “J” and other times is just a continuation of the character before it. The entire feeling of this piece of 200 MPH artwork is that it is as playful as the GT is fun to drive.
For his exhibition “Come to my World“ in Berlin, the famous artist Romero Britto chose a Bentley Continental GT as a canvas for his cheerful and vivid signature motifs. This is probably one of the most unusual Bentleys ever seen: a large, happy flower, little stars, squiggles and signs dance on the elegant hood and colourful, comic-like figures adorn the doors. The Continental GT – a static prototype built in 2003 – has become a truly unique work of art created by the world-renowned Brazilian artist Romero Britto. Bentley Motors donated the Coupe on the occasion of Britto´s Berlin exhibition “Come to my World” in the Automobil Forum Unter den Linden.

Britto, one of the most admired and popular artists currently working within Pop Art, creates pieces specifically to put a smile on people´s faces. Having grown up in poverty in Recife, Brazil, his work belies his background by creating a fantasy world inhabited by child-like creatures and optimistic, strong colours. “Since everything in life moves toward an end”, says Romero Britto, “we should fill our life with colour and hope.” His paintings, graphics and sculptures can be admired in many of the world’s leading art galleries including the Museum of Modern Art and Guggenheim in New York. He counts the Kennedys, Rothchilds, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steffi Graf and Elton John among his friends and collectors.

Romero was delighted to be given the chance to turn a Bentley into a Pop Art sculpture: “It is the most beautiful and elegant car in the world. The lines of the new design are perfect to paint as a clean canvas. What a way to start a fascinating and colourful journey.”

Raul Pires, Head of Exterior Design at Bentley Motors and like Romero Britto, a Brazilian was central to the creation of the Continental GT. He thoroughly agrees with his countryman: “A Bentley holds the unique combination of exhilaration and relaxation in one package. An automotive sculpture with elegant powerful surfaces. The ultimate in craftsmanship.”

The Romero Britto exhibition, hosted by the Automobil Forum Unter den Linden in cooperation with the Mensing Gallery, will take place from 10 July until 6 September 2009. In keeping with Britto’s wider ideals, at the conclusion of the show, the “Britto-Bentley” will be put up for auction in aid of the Nathalie Todenhöfer Foundation for multiple sclerosis as well as Best Buddies, an organization dedicated to improving the integration of the mentally disabled within society.