Lexus To Showcase LS460 With a 460 Degrees Gallery in Select Cities

There is no map to innovation. The path to invention is laid with passion, confidence and, above all, uncommon vision. Those are the guiding principles behind "Light and Speed" at The 460 Degrees Gallery, a one-of-a-kind contemporary art experience presented by Lexus in Los Angeles, New York, Miami and Chicago.

Sebastien Agneessens, a prominent New York-based curator for the contemporary arts, curated the multi-media exhibition that brings together some of the freshest talents on the contemporary art scene. Shamim Momin, associate curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art, served as executive consultant. "Light and Speed" features conceptual photography by Miranda Lichtenstein, video art by Pascual Sisto and an architectural installation by Arne Quinze.

The 460 Degrees Gallery is hosting gala events, public seminars, premium tastings and presentations by luxury retailers. "The idea of 460 Degrees is that there's more to discover beyond what we see or even imagine can be," says Agneessens. The gallery opened in Los Angeles in October and has been an instant hit in each city. In New York, 460 Degrees Gallery had more than 13,000 visitors during its two-week run.

Lexus is mounting "Light and Speed" at The 460 Degrees Gallery to showcase the launch of its all-new 2007 LS 460 luxury sedan. "We wanted to do something that celebrates reinvention and Lexus' heightened focus on design," said Deborah Meyer, vice president of marketing for Lexus.

The 460 Degrees Gallery in Chicago will be located at 666 N. Michigan Avenue in Chicago. The exhibition manifesto and further details are available at www.460degrees.com.

A Look Inside The 460 Degrees Gallery

A towering vortex of wood. Hypnotic video images of moving cars. Photographs chronicling the age-old quest for higher meaning and self-discovery. As Agneessens put it, entering "Light and Speed" at The 460 Degrees Gallery is like "journeying into a dream."

The exhibition space is dominated by "Timegate," Arne Quinze's massive spiral structure made of thousands of pinewood planks, an installation that required more than three miles of wood and more than 25,000 nails. Quinze, a Belgian artist perhaps best known for his breakthrough designs for the Burning Man festival, said, "I want this work to be an experience out of time. Since it's a piece of art you walk into, it goes beyond visual understanding. This is an experience of sensuality and of deep feelings."

At the base of Quinze's vortex is a video installation by Barcelona-born artist Pascual Sisto, who now resides in Los Angeles. "Push/Pull" is his homage to American car culture: on one video screen, a kaleidoscopic vision of white headlights approaches in silence; on the other, red taillights speed away. "Living in L.A., most of my best ideas come to me while driving, and my imagery takes shape in the car," Sisto said. "The notion here is that driving is a meditative state and the car becomes an extension of one's imagination."

Miranda Lichtenstein also explores the nexus between meditation and machine. In a photographic series titled "The Searchers," the New York-based artist documents various paths that people take to discover higher consciousness. One image, "Anechoic Chamber," shows a man in a soundproof studio at Bell Laboratories that the Guinness Book once called the world's quietest room. "I wanted to create an image of something 'undocumentable;' complete silence," said Lichtenstein, whose other photographs on view document yoga, med

The 460 Degrees Gallery also presents opportunities for visitors to participate in the discovery process. Touch-screen displays feature in-depth artist interviews and take visitors inside the art-making process. Various public events will unfold around the exhibits, including Wired Magazine's "Gadget Lab," a seminar on "The Art of the Suit" by Details magazine and chocolates distributed by Teuscher Chocolates of Switzerland (See website for complete list of events and schedule).

EL34 - 1/25/2007 11:37:24 AM

-3 Boost

Of course the entire exhibit will be able to self-park it's self when a robot pushes a button.

EL34 - 1/25/2007 1:38:19 PM

+1 Boost

"itself"

This Lexus exhibit is a world-first.

EL34i - 1/25/2007 2:04:21 PM

+1 Boost

Perhaps your clients can research potential residences, themselves.

chewy - 1/25/2007 12:57:24 PM

+1 Boost

With enough advertising Lexus byers will think that there are 460 degress in a circle.

cynic - 1/25/2007 1:18:43 PM

+2 Boost

It might work, just as VW has tried to convince people of "superior" German engineering.

EL34 - 1/25/2007 1:39:34 PM

-1 Boost

There's only 360 payments in a 30 year fixed mortgage.

cdoke - 1/25/2007 2:09:24 PM

+1 Boost

The only way 460 makes any sense if they mean temperature.

You add 460 to degrees fahrenheit to get degrees Rankine [which is an absolute temperature scale]

Why and how it makes any sense to name an exhibit after a conversion factor you guess is a good as mine.

EL34i - 1/25/2007 2:17:10 PM

+6 Boost

With enough advertising VW might be able to successfully relaunch the Phaeton in the United States.

That exhibit could be titled "Futility and Embarassment"

cynic - 1/25/2007 3:00:59 PM

0 Boost

Like most good art, it is controvesial and makes people think...seems to apply here.

XYZZ - 1/28/2007 4:38:58 AM

+1 Boost

"With enough advertising Lexus byers will think that there are 460 degress in a circle."

with enough education Chewy may learn to spell.

(potential) Lexus buyers are WAY AHEAD of you. 460 degrees just means Lexus goes full circle (Maru is heavy with symbolic meanings in japanese), AND THEN SOME.

XYZZ - 1/28/2007 4:41:21 AM

+1 Boost

likewise, the artists featured. NOT your usual run of the mill artists. these people, like the car, are ADVANCED in their conceptualizations and executions.

XYZZ - 1/28/2007 4:45:03 AM

+1 Boost

as opposed to RETARDED.

like people who think nothing of PAYING MORE for LESS. just for perceived prestige.

Loki123 - 1/25/2007 1:40:45 PM

+2 Boost

Just an aside: there seems to be an awful lot of people using variations of the name "EL34" on this forum. (43LE, EL43i ...) Is this one person taking on 3 identities?

EL34 - 1/25/2007 1:47:26 PM

-1 Boost

hmmmm

DavidRoss - 1/26/2007 5:16:31 AM

+2 Boost

Shouldn't yours read: mmmmh?

Carboy - 1/25/2007 3:11:53 PM

+1 Boost

Just to tell you, the autopark system is 50% useless because it can only back up so if you're in a tight space and you need to go forward to get in all the way, you have to do it by yourself.

markusck - 1/26/2007 1:23:02 PM

-2 Boost

Its 100% useless, you will never find a 25 foot space, you will never take the time to use it. It is a gizmo that you show your friends once then everyone goes home. Its actually a shame as its a good car yet this gizmo has now become the only thing the fanboys rave about which cheapens the image.

audirevolution - 1/25/2007 4:00:12 PM

-3 Boost

The LS doesn't compete against the S. Just look at the price difference!
S class is more luxurious, more refined, and has the best exterior design ever.
Have you ever driven an S Will?

audirevolution - 1/25/2007 4:35:31 PM

+4 Boost

Actually I have driven an LS (neighbors). Yes it is worth the money you pay, but the S class is simply better, IMO.
But the LS is definately worth every penny. Priced $20k less than the S550.

S4cabriofoxone - 1/25/2007 5:20:41 PM

+2 Boost

The S-Class deserves every penny you pay for its prestige. It is, arguably, the most prestigious, well-known sedan in the world.

S4cabriofoxone - 1/25/2007 5:22:36 PM

-1 Boost

I forgot to add: your father is lucky, then, that they don't cost $350K like a Maybach.

IF, and only IF, the LS460(L, perhaps) comes with AWD in the next year, I'd definitely look at it for my wife. But she has simply said that she's definitely not getting a Lexus for her next car, so there's a pretty powerful roadblock there. Unlike you, Will, she wants some variety- trying different cars.

audirevolution - 1/25/2007 5:28:18 PM

+2 Boost

If Lexus could raise their prices to the level of Mercedes benz, they would. However Lexus sales would fall drastically. Mercedes has the highest name cache out of all luxury name plates.
Lexus does make some great products though.
I agree, mercedes benz is overpriced.
E class=over 50k.
GS series=42k.

Bill - 1/25/2007 11:36:30 PM

0 Boost

true true, Lexus has been around since 1989 only, so MB has the name cache...but that's all they have these days, and i really believe that.

MB has much more than that you Lexus troll. Lexus has reliability and a cheaper price. That's it. You want to know why Lexus is cheaper? Ask me and I'll tell you.

S4cabriofoxone - 1/26/2007 11:08:57 PM

+1 Boost

"true true, Lexus has been around since 1989 only, so MB has the name cache...but that's all they have these days, and i really believe that. "

How about luxury? The new S and CL-Class models have some of the most beautiful interiors in the business, with the S surpassing its Lexus LS counterpart quite easily in terms of luxury and craft of the interior.

Style. It depends on what you like, but Merc has cars at both ends of the spectrum. There's the ones for the traditionalist- E-Class, outgoing C-Class, CLK, SL. Then there's the more contemporary designs, which include the SLK, CLS, S, CL and new C.

Safety. Up there with Audi and (yes) Lexus, Mercedes has a strong commitment to safety and frequently touts new technology that eventually makes its way to being a staple for all cars. ABS? That's Mercedes. ESP? Yup. Pre-safe? You got it!

I could go on...

cdoke - 1/25/2007 4:11:46 PM

+1 Boost

...or I guess it could be from the car's name...but that still doesn't explain the "degrees" part.

I can honestly say this boost thing at times makes little sense to me. I've seen plenty of posts that I thought were rational and they have been given negative boosts, apparently at times for no other reason than who wrote them. That's not really appropriate is it?

Bill - 1/25/2007 5:47:27 PM

+1 Boost

With Mercedes, you pay for the name (brand image), hence the prestige pricing. Lexus can't do that, so they undercut the competition with "cheap luxury" prices.

It also helps a lot that Japan is buying a shipload of American Dollars to keep their currency weak over the US Dollar and make their products cheaper in this market.

XYZZ - 1/28/2007 4:20:30 AM

+1 Boost

HAH!

japan (and china) buy boatloads of US BONDS to PROP UP the US economy, so they'll continue to have american customers.

either country could SINK the us economy if they UNLOADED the hundreds of BILLIONS of $-denominated assets they hold. (but that would be economic suicide for them too, so they don't.)

short of unloading US $$$s, they only have to SLOW their regular purchases, to send our gov't a "message," anytime they get upset with us.

without the excess savings of japanese and chinese, the excess NEGATIVE SAVINGS of americans could NOT be sustained.

XYZZ - 1/28/2007 7:24:25 AM

+1 Boost

it seems to me, japan and china are INFLATING/debasing their currencies, to follow OUR lead in doing this.

being 3 of the 4 largest economies (germany being the other), they and we can GET AWAY DOING this. unlike us, however, they have the economic PRODUCTIVITY to absorb wildly inflating currencies. WE do not.

the dollar would be in FREE FALL if the asians weren't helping to prop it up.

indifferent - 1/25/2007 6:08:58 PM

+1 Boost

Everyone wants to say Mercedes are better cars/ cars with more prestige but where do they get that. If you listen to a Lexus engine in park and actully hear it, you should be given a price. That thing is silent, from the outside and inside. A Mercedes engine sounds like a truck. The navigation system inside Mercedes is sub-par with all the compitition. I mean the lexus system outlines buildings so you know where parking is. The Lexus sound system is suppose to be much greater than the Benz also. So why is the S class held to such high regard? What does the Benz do so much better than the 7 series, A8 or the LS?

Bill - 1/25/2007 11:29:44 PM

0 Boost

Wow, what an ignorant post. I own an S550 and the engine does not sound like a truck at all.

Also, you want to know why the S-Class is held in such high regard? Because there have been many awesome S-Classes in the past that have always set the benchmark. The S-Class is a car with history, tradition, a reputation and much more.

Don't even begin to compare the LS history to that of the S-Class. Idiot.

Bill - 1/25/2007 11:56:01 PM

-1 Boost

Subpar is a word that is being erradicated from Mercedes. Look at the latest cars from their lineup and how well they have improved.

S4cabriofoxone - 1/26/2007 11:09:55 PM

+1 Boost

The S-Class still is the benchmark. I'm hoping to find a well-equipped 2007 S550 4Matic for under $75K for my wife next year.

indifferent - 1/25/2007 6:08:58 PM

+1 Boost

Matthew1 - 1/25/2007 11:29:04 PM

+2 Boost

indifferent,

The S-Class is the COMPLETE car.

The LS trades driver enjoyment and handling flair for a cushy ride.

The LS is compromised in that regard, whereas the S-Class does EVERYTHING right.

EL34 - 1/27/2007 2:41:52 PM

0 Boost

Matt, indubitably the S-Class is the complete car.

Matthew1 - 1/26/2007 3:09:06 AM

0 Boost

Yes but when you pay that much for a car, you expect it to excel in all areas.

As always, you don't need to drive enthusiastically to reap the benefits of agile handling.

And considering turning and going around corners is one of the automobile's primary functions, shouldn't it be done well?

Matthew1 - 1/26/2007 7:22:11 PM

+1 Boost

I'm sorry if you think pronounced body roll, loose steering and lots of understeer is normal.

S4cabriofoxone - 1/26/2007 11:11:38 PM

+1 Boost

Dre3000, wouldn't you rather have a car that does EVERYTHING well than have a car that only does some things well? The only thing that the LS does better than the S is pricing, and there's a reason for that!

XYZZ - 1/28/2007 4:32:03 AM

+1 Boost

"...wouldn't you rather have a car that does EVERYTHING well than have a car that only does some things well? "

yes, I definitely would!

which means, i'd definitely have to SAY NO to a car with numerous electrical and electronic bugs!

when did the ghosts from Lucas move to Stuttgart?