Anthony James and Aston Martin Come Together at Chateau Marmont

On the eve of Frieze Los Angeles last week, British-American contemporary artist Anthony James raised the curtain on a new light sculpture masterpiece in true celebration of Aston Martin’s flagship V12 sports car, the one and only Vanquish. Poetically titled “Reflections of Speed,” the transcendent work of art made its grand debut poolside at the legendary Chateau Marmont in Hollywood. 

In a visually-arresting fusion of masterful design, a relentless drive for fine and innovative craftsmanship, and the never-ending quest for timeless beauty, the historic brand and pioneering artist offered this one-of-a-kind collaboration. The unforgettable night united James; Miles Nurnberger, Director of Design at Aston Martin; and Benjamin Sutton, The Art Newspaper‘s America’s Editor in riveting conversation. Local and international glitterati rejoiced with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres while embarking on a divine artistic journey.

The ground-breaking treasure will go on showcase at the local and legendary Petersen Automotive Museum. Further, the mesmeric sculpture will be generously offered for sale later this year, with all proceeds supporting the museum and aid funds in the wake of the devastating Los Angeles fires. 

Whitewall had a unique opportunity leading up to the festivities to sit down with the remarkable artist alongside the visionary Nurnberger to speak about exceptional trust, making meaningful contributions to the cultural discourse, and the eternal pursuit of the slightly impossible.

WHITEWALL: What was the starting point for this collaboration?

ANTHONY JAMES: About a year and a half ago, I was talking with Aston Martin, and we wanted to do something to celebrate the new Vanquish car—which is an 820 horsepower, $600,000 flagship masterpiece. I got the drawings of the Vanquish and I built a sculpture around it. My intent was to celebrate the car from every single angle. When I was looking at the car, I had a particular favorite view point. I think the back of the car is absolutely astonishingly beautiful and it references old race technology but in a completely contemporary way. It has a flat back and a flip out. So I emphasized this with the sculpture. 

“My intent was to celebrate the car from every single angle,”

Anthony James

The contours of the car are influencing the structure of the box—the design of my sculpture. I wanted the sculpture and the car to come together and unify as one object. 

In my studio practice, I’m not really interested in showing an audience something that they’ve seen before. I want to do things that haven’t been seen before. And I don’t think anyone’s ever done anything like that before.

MILES NURNBERGER: What makes projects like this interesting is we’re a car company in an industrial world, but we are always trying to make objects, we say, as close to art as possible.

It’s always nice to hear Anthony’s words because we are often trying to do the same things. We’re trying to make things that are slightly impossible. And when you look at them, you ask, how have you done that? There should be this seamless nature to it. A normal car doesn’t do that. That’s the real thing we spend many, many, many hours doing, is making something that just has a wow factor the minute you see it.

You almost want the viewer to be slightly confused in the first instance, how have they done that? It’s different from everything else, we’re broken codes and gone in new directions.

I think that’s partly what makes Aston slightly different. Our cars have always been sculptures. The body forms have always been quite sinuous, they’ve always been seen in that way. But I think what is behind them, though, is a lot of technical thought of how to achieve something that looks effortless at the very end of the day. You should just be able to perceive the love and energy that’s gone into it, and we put a massive emphasis on that. For a huge amount of car design it’s a commodity, and that’s fine, but for an Aston we have to go beyond that. 

“Our cars have always been sculptures,”

Miles Nurnberger

We go mad for material, so we have this very, very strong notion of authenticity. If it looks like metal, it is metal, and that often means pushing engineers very hard to do something that, they say, ‘but you can do that in plastic,’ but you have to do it in metal. You have to believe that the viewer will understand. We had this conversation earlier about gravity, and that you can tell something is solid and you can perceive that. It’s the same in art, and it’s the same in car design at the right level.

AJ: Adding to that, at the back of the car, this panel here is called a shield. Aston Martin will give you many options of what that’s made of. Some are for illustrious reasons, the way it feels. On the car in there, that’s carbon fiber, which is a lightweight, very practical, and obviously very popular material for sports cars. Aston would also make you that in wood. And that’s for a different reason. That’s for the uniqueness and the feel of the vehicle, and to make something because you can as an artwork. It doesn’t have to have a practical function, it has an artistic poetry to it.

The Shared Principles of Aston Martin and Anthony James Studio

WW: What was the creative process?

MN: Anthony was inspired by it. We shared the Vanquish designs, which the team in the studio have been working on for a long, long time, for a period of years. And then this is very much your work, Anthony, your interpretation. 

“It doesn’t have to have a practical function, it has an artistic poetry,”

Anthony James

AJ: We have the same principles—Aston Martin and Anthony James Studio. There is a respect there, and they allowed me to see their car design, they also allowed me the space to make objects about the car. There is a level of trust involved. 

At our core, we’re all about craftsmanship, and going to the nth level to make something that is unique or hasn’t been done before, that is bonded by this idea of perfect craftsmanship. That is a principle in both of our practices. And allowing ourselves to just do things creatively, not just for a function.

MN: I think we gave Anthony utter freedom in that respect. I think there are loads of parallels, talking about sacred geometry and things like that. There is precision in everything, obsessed with getting things millimetre perfect. It’s a shared thing. The process was, here’s the Vanquish, but then let Anthony do what Anthony does. 

I think all artists are slightly obsessive, all designers are slightly obsessive, but there’s a notion of precision and magic, where I find the parallels quite naturally between us.

“There’s a notion of precision and magic, where I find the parallels quite naturally between us,”

Miles Nurnberger

AJ: Every component in that piece has been designed for one sole purpose, and it was all inspired by the design of the Vanquish. That piece is completely unique to this one particular car, down to the nut and bolt. We designed it, 3D printed it, and everything was just riffing off of the car. And everything I do is always made in-house, in my studio. 

WW: With Aston Martin’s history of collaborating with artists, this is something very unique and special. 

MN: I think it’s very different from anything we’ve done before and I think it’s unique from an automotive side. We’ve always had this love in the brand for art. There’s a very human nature to Aston Martin as a brand. And I think collaborating with artists, and with someone who wants to push in their work is very interesting for us, it’s very inspiring for the team in that respect.

Premiering in Los Angeles and Giving Back to the Community 

WW: How did you decide that right here, right now, would be the premiere?

AJ: We were thinking about where the reveal should be. Then I got a phone call saying, well, would you be open to Los Angeles? I said, yes, I would like it to be at Chateau Marmont if it’s in LA because I like the legacy of the hotel, and my own personal connection with the hotel is that I used to live here. And then obviously we had the tragedy of the fires.

In conversation with Aston Martin, we decided that we were going to go ahead. Aston Martin actually doubled down, they were so committed to doing LA, and we’re going to auction off this piece. We’re going to donate every cent to the fire aid.

That was a big drive by Aston. Also, for them to let me host something in my hometown, where my studio is, I thought that was nice as well. 

MN: I used to live in this part of the world, and watching everything that was going on was quite scary. I have lots of friends that live in LA. 

AJ: When a city has had such a trauma, I think it’s so important, internationally, to support that city. It’s nice to put emphasis on and host here, especially. LA is a particularly resilient city, but it’s nice to have a helping hand and show that people internationally care. 

“LA is a particularly resilient city, but it’s nice to have a helping hand and show that people internationally care,”

Anthony James

WW: You’ve always given back to the community. Why is that an important part of your ethos? 

AJ: I don’t overthink that. I like to just say yes. I feel you should give back in any capacity. So if someone asks me something, I usually say yes if I can. 

A Singular Opportunity for Artistic Exploration and Cultural Contribution 

WW: How do you hope people might experience this beautiful, visual journey you’ve created?

MN: Obviously the setting is amazing. The scale of it is something unusual as well. The fact that it really does mix the car world and the art world together is something special. I think you will have to explore it.

WW: What have you learned from each other’s creative practices to take into future endeavors? 

MN: An equal obsession in the way we want perfection. 

AJ: I think both of us really care about offering something new that’s never been done before. Miles also has a car called the Valkyrie, it was made so unique and it’s a true contribution to the discourse of culture. It was started from zero and then made into something. It doesn’t have much of a mold to it, it was made fresh. And as an artist I only want to do things that have never really been done before.

WW: You are both dedicated to fearless creativity and timeless beauty. What continues to fuel that inspiration?

MN: I think we share it, it’s the thing that we don’t know yet. Definitely what inspires me is the thing I haven’t done yet, finding that, that’s where the energy comes from. You might be inspired by music and whatnot, but the energy comes from the bit you don’t know. That’s the curiosity factor. 

Aston Martin and Anthony James Pay Homage to History while Energetically Driving Forward 

WW: What are you working on next at Aston Martin?

MN: We are in a phase, and Vanquish is one part of that, where we are being quite ruthless, fearless, in imagining where an Aston Martin goes in the future. I think we’re an interesting brand because we’ve got a beautiful, wonderful history, but actually the power in the brand is to make new history, to be progressive. And I think we’re in a phase where we’re more progressive than we’ve been in many, many years.

“The power in the brand is to make new history, to be progressive,”

Miles Nurnberger

That’s the energy in the studio back in England, what can we be next? You have to be looking forwards, even when you’ve got a brilliant history behind you. I make that emphasis because it’s easy to say, I’ve done this, and everyone loves this, so I’m going to stay doing this. But you have to have this relentlessness. I think there’s an energy in Aston at the moment to do that. 

WW: What does it mean to you, Anthony, to be a part of this history now? 

AJ: My personal passion is cars and architecture, but especially cars. Aston Martin is one of the most beautiful English brands in history, not just for cars. I can’t even believe that I’m collaborating, it’s a dream come true. 

“Aston Martin is one of the most beautiful English brands in history,”

Anthony James

WW: What are you working on next in your studio?

AJ: I have a big year ahead of me. I’m going to be opening an immersive experience in an 88,000 square foot structure in Miami on December 1st.