Keith Haring at the Petersen Automotive Museum
Beautiful art and beautiful cars, what could be better than that? The Petersen Automotive Museum, a landmark of Los Angeles's Miracle Mile neighborhood clad in red paint and stainless steel, has been home to hundreds of beautiful works of automotive art in various forms. The museum, opened in 1994, hosts a staggering collection of over 300 cars dating all the way back to the turn of the 20th Century. Some of my personal favorites include: Steve McQueen's 1956 Jaguar XKSS, 1967 Ford MKIII GT40, and the Pontiac Aztek from Breaking Bad. Succeeding one of the Petersen's most recent and most popular exhibits, the BMW Art Cars, is one titled “The Unconventional Canvases of Keith Haring." The exhibit, which took nine years for Haring to complete, features four vehicles: A 1971 Land Rover Series III 109 Station Wagon, a 1987 Honda CBR 1000F Hurricane, a 1963 Buick Special, and a rather tiny 1962 SCAF/Mortarini Ferrari 330 P2 Child’s Car. The exhibition was meant to feature a 1990 BMW Z1, but the vehicle shipped back to its home in France the week prior. You can read more below, with additional pictures at the end.
1971 Land Rover Series III 109 Station Wagon
This not-so-drab Olive Drab Land Rover was adorned Haring's classic dancing figures for the famous 1983 Montreux Jazz Festival. Haring was the "artist-in-residence" at the Swiss festival, where his art was featured prominently throughout the event. This vehicle is my personal favorite from the exhibit, as well as on of my favorite vehicles ever made.
1987 Honda CBR 1000F Hurricane
At the time Haring painted the CBR in 1987, it was one of the fastest motorcycles in the world. Due to mandatory electronic top speed limiting in the US for all street motorcycles, this bike still is one of the fastest. Although the Land Rover is my favorite, I absolutely adore the almost tribal looking paint job.
1963 Buick Special
The 1963 Buick Special is perhaps the most classic Haring of all the cars in the exhibit. This two town paint job covers the entire car in his trademark dancing figures. His typical oversized signature also adorns one of the rear fenders.
1962 SCAF/Mortarini Ferrari 330 P2 Child’s Car
Last but not least is the small but mighty SCAF/Mortarini Ferrari 330 P2 Child’s Car. The car, like the others, is covered from boot to bonnet in Haring's paintings. The 200cc car was Haring's contribution to a drawing competition held at the 1984 24 Hours of Le Mans race held almost 33 years ago to the day. The work of art was actually raced at Little Big Mans children’s race, still held every year at the French endurance race.
