James Corden Previews Bugatti, David De Beyter Crashes Cars

Two new automotive exhibits are world’s apart—both literally and figuratively. The first, “Art of Bugatti,” brings the elevated aesthetic of that Italian dynasty to Los Angeles’ Petersen Automotive Museum starting October 23 and remaining on display for a year. The second, “Build and Destroy,” showcases the crash-centric art of David De Beyter through December 18 at the Centre Photographique d’Île-de-France outside of Paris.

The “Art of Bugatti” will be previewed during the Petersen’s Grand Gala led by CBS “Late Late Show” host James Corden on October 22, a year after the completion of KPF’s $90 million renovation. Billed as the most comprehensive retrospective on the Bugatti family in history, it will showcase the art, sculpture, furniture, and automobiles of “the family that changed automotive design, engineering, and racing during the art deco period.” The vehicles on display—including vintage models such as the Type 41 Royale, Type 57 Atalante, Type 35, and Type 46 along with contemporary Bugatti’s including the EB110 and the recently unveiled Chiron—represents the breadth of the Bugatti automobile company’s output and features designs by both Ettore Bugatti and his son Jean.

Across the globe, automotive beauty is in the eye of a different beholder with the third installment of David De Beyter’s Big Bangers exhibition series. For “Build and Destroy,” De Beyter adds film, installations, and sculpture to his usual photographic output while continuing to explore “big bangers,” a sport, derived from autocross and popular in northern France, that consists of violently crashing vehicles to create “auto-sculpture.”