Lexus Reveals Winners of the UX Art Car Competition at Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille
A colourful and detailed artwork that evokes the shimmering quality of a fish’s scales has earned the Spanish art duo Antoñito and Manolín first prize in the Lexus UX Art Car competition. Their success with Gyorin Kozane (Armour of Scales) was announced yesterday at the climax of the Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille, where Lexus was celebrating the 30th anniversary of its founding as luxury brand.
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’s new UX compact SUV.
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’s 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.
ENDS
