Six artists from Telangana will paint their imagination on a brand new Volvo XC60, after which the Rs.80-lakh car will go under the hammer in Sweden.
A popular concept in the West, the ‘art car’ idea has come to India for the very first time. Artists Jagadish Chinthala, Laxman Aelay, Sachin Jaltare, Ramesh Gorjala, Chippa Sudhakar and L. Saraswati will redesign the car using Ducu, a special paint. All four doors of the car, its roof, bonnet and boot door will be given to the artists, and the final finished car will bear the confluence of their art. “This is indeed a first-of-its-kind art project by several artists on a single car,” said Kali Sudheer, who is monitoring and executing the project. The designed car will then be auctioned, and is likely to fetch Rs.1.6 crore – double its original price. Part of the profit would go to charity identified by the artists, while they would share the remaining amount. “They will also get an international brand association and have a chance of trying out a new medium,” says Sudheer.
Talwar Motors director Saket Talwar, who is driving the project from the brand’s end, says Volvo has been incorporating art in showrooms and workshops the world over. To take it a step forward, the company had added art on the car, and it will be an art piece in a personalised way.
An art car community emerged in the 1990s, inspired by movies and books. It involved the development of innovative art display venues such as Burning Man. A vital cog behind the community’s growth was film-maker and art car artist Harrod Blank. He co-founded with Philo Northrup the US’ second largest art car festival in the San Francisco Bay Area – ArtCar Fest.
