A scholar of the late avant-garde artist Hermann Nitsch and founding member of the "Wiener Achse", Philip Mueller might be one of the most interesting Austrian artists of the hour. His cacophonous large-scale painting shifts between the unreal and the absurd, fearlessly whipping up styles, from pagan cult art to gothic horror novels, and conjuring pop culture heroes from Batman to Jesus Christ into phantasmagorgic narratives.
Based on a 1990 Jaguar XJS, the Viennese painter has now created a rather eclectic art car with an even more remarkable story to tell: Inspired by the Roman emperor Tiberio and a deserted prison island near Capri, Mueller developed the idea of Tibe Beach, a fictional resort where the characters of Mueller’s gang, the hedonistic Black Flamingo Sad Boys, take refuge and live their high life. In the artist’s vision, Tibe Beach is surrounded by a round course called Autodromo di Castel d’Oro on which the Tibe Racing Team drive their special cars 24/7 to speed up the combustion of our planet's last oil reserves.
While Tibe Beach might be purely utopic (or dystopic, depending on your world view), the art car is very real and it's up for auction with MA Motor Auctions on May 21 in Tulln, Austria. So, whether you'd like to join the Black Flamingo Sad Boys in their struggle, or simply have a free parking space left in your art collection, Philip Mueller’s Jaguar might just be the car for you.
Photos: Mato Johanik
