Quite often, custom motorcycle builders characterize certain models as a perfect canvas for their artistic expressions. When it comes to the BMW CE-04 electric scooter, that description couldn’t be more fitting. In the brand’s Light White color option, the e-scoot presents creatives with a literal blank canvas, and Italian artist Flycat is more than willing to lend his urban-informed stylings to the vehicle.
Over the past 30 years, Flycat has masterfully honed his art form. From multimedia art to collaborations with Levi’s, Adidas, and Nike, the prolific artist has demonstrated his versatility and range. Despite those dabblings, Flycat’s roots remain in graffiti.
“With this project, BMW Motorrad Italia wants to celebrate the truest and most inclusive urban art, the one that is born on the streets and is ennobled by a great passion,” claimed BMW Italia General Manager Alessandro Salimbeni. “The same passion that on two wheels allows you to experience the Make Life A Ride, which is the claim of BMW Motorrad. And the city is the natural environment for the BMW CE 04.”
BMW hopes the CE-04 helps declutter urban thoroughfares in the near future. Flycat hopes to make the model more at home in the city too, bringing his gritty brand of art to the project.
“Through the shapes that give life to my sign, what I call urban camouflage,” explained the artist, “I wanted to create the structure of the 'letter' that is decomposed to make its own decoding so difficult, creating a sort of protective mantle above the frame of the scooter, on the right side appears the writing BMW, while on the parallel side, my signature tag"
The CE-04's futuristic and simplified form may not draw much attention from custom motorcycle builders, but it proves that it’s the ideal canvas for today’s preeminent urban artists.