MSCHF Bent a Lexus RZ Into a Ring and Twisted an RX Like a Towel
Brooklyn art collective MSCHF turned an electric RZ 450e and a plug-in RX 450h+ into sculptures that go on free public view in New York this week.
Lexus handed two of its electrified SUVs to Brooklyn art collective MSCHF, and neither came back in drivable shape. One has been bent into a closed ring. The other has been wrung along its length like a towel. Both go on public display in New York this week.
The show, called MOTOMORPHOSIS, runs Sept. 24–26 at Chelsea Industrial on West 28th Street, timed to the city's Armory Week. Entry is free, but visitors have to RSVP through the exhibition's website.
Circle Car starts with the battery-electric RZ 450e, curled until its nose meets its own tail. Twisted Car starts with the RX 450h+ plug-in hybrid, rotated along its axis so the windows, door handles, and body lines spiral around the middle of the car. Each sculpture stands next to an unmodified example of the model it came from.
MSCHF says the shapes borrow from 3D animation, where objects squash and stretch mid-motion to suggest speed. The collective calls the pieces Form Cars rather than concept cars. They preview nothing, and they are meant to look fast while standing still.
Lexus hasn't said how the sculptures were built or how much of the original vehicles survives inside them. The company's fine print describes them only as special project vehicles fitted with non-Lexus parts that may not be street legal.
The source cars are regular showroom models. For 2026, Lexus quotes a manufacturer-estimated 261 miles of range for the dual-motor RZ 450e on 18-inch tires. The RX 450h+ pairs a 2.5-liter four-cylinder with a lithium-ion battery rated for an estimated 38 miles on electricity alone.
The choice of cars says as much as the sculptures do. Lexus uses "electrified" to cover both its EVs and its plug-in hybrids, and MOTOMORPHOSIS gives one of each equal billing. The exhibition site ties the project to an "Electric Made Art" theme that treats electricity as a creative medium rather than a background utility.
Art projects are familiar ground for Lexus. The brand has exhibited at Milan Design Week since 2005, most recently in April with an immersive installation built around its LS Concept flagship. The New York show differs in one respect: it is built on vehicles buyers can order today, not a concept.
MSCHF, for its part, is best known for objects that go viral. Its Big Red Boot, a cartoonish rubber boot launched around New York Fashion Week in February 2023, now sits in the collection of Düsseldorf's Kunstpalast museum.
Lexus hasn't said whether Circle Car or Twisted Car will travel after the three-day run. The opening takes place Thursday evening, with public hours from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
