Bentley Meets Pop Art (From Crewe Guardian)

Bentley Meets Pop Art

11:17am Monday 20th July 2009

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ONE of the most unusual Bentleys ever seen has become the star of a Berlin exhibition by famous artist Romero Britto, forming a canvas for his cheerful and vivid signature motifs.

The Continental GT features a large, happy flower, little stars, squiggles and signs dance on the elegant hood and colourful, comic-like figures adorn the doors.

The Crewe firm 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.

He said: “Since everything in life moves toward an end 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.

He added: “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 a Brazilian like Britto, was central to the creation of the Continental GT.

He said: “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.

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