C/ar/t blanche? - Ndebele artist Esther Mahlangu's painting on a BMW automobile and other works in National Museum of Women in the Arts exhibit, Washington, D.C

American Visions, Oct-Nov, 1994 by Anthony C. Murphy

In 1991 Ndebele mural artist Esther Mahlangu followed in the footsteps of Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg, becoming the first woman invited to paint a Bavarian Motor Works (BMW) art car. The car, painted in the style for which the women in this South African tribe are noted, is the centerpiece of "Esther Mahlangu, South African Muralist: BMW Art Car and Related Works" at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. The exhibit includes works on canvas and photographs of Ndebele mural works, as well as an exterior mural.

"Esther Mahlangu" remains on view through November 13. The exterior mural remains for several months.