Circle Car turns the outline of a Lexus RZ 450e into a closed loop. Image: Lexus USA Newsroom, supplied for editorial use.
MSCHF bends Lexus RZ and RX into two impossible car sculptures
Lexus has commissioned Brooklyn art collective MSCHF to make two sculptures from the visual identities of its electrified SUVs. Circle Car, based on the battery-electric RZ 450e, and Twisted Car, derived from the RX 450h+ plug-in hybrid, are being shown at Chelsea Industrial in New York from 24 to 26 September 2026.
The distinction between art object and vehicle is explicit. Lexus says the special projects use non-Lexus parts, may compromise safety and warranty coverage, and may not be street legal. They are displayed beside unaltered production examples, rather than presented as prototypes of future cars.
One RZ becomes a continuous loop
Circle Car takes the familiar profile of the RZ 450e and curls it until the nose appears to meet the tail. Wheels, glazing and body panels follow the circumference of a vertical ring. The details identify the source car, but the loop removes the practical logic that normally organises every part of a vehicle.
MSCHF's operation is easier to read because a standard RZ sits nearby. On the production model, the wheelbase, passenger compartment and tapered body all support movement in a clear direction. On Circle Car, those same cues lead the eye around and back to its starting point. The sculpture depicts endless motion while being physically unable to travel.
The choice of RZ also establishes a clear technical baseline without turning the installation into a specification exercise. Lexus introduced the RZ in 2022 as its first dedicated battery-electric model intended for global markets. Circle Car does not test its range, charging system or DIRECT4 all-wheel drive. It uses the recognisable shell of that electric SUV as material for a geometric transformation.
The RX is pulled into a spiral
Twisted Car starts with an RX 450h+, the plug-in hybrid member of the RX family. Its body appears to have been subjected to longitudinal torsion: surfaces that should run from front to rear spiral around the centre line, while the cabin and exterior features stretch along the rotation.
The unmodified RX 450h+ shown beside it prevents a common misunderstanding. Twisted Car is not a design proposal, an aerodynamic test or a preview of a facelift. It is a static artwork whose purpose depends on the original SUV remaining recognisable inside an impossible shape.
The two donor identities also represent different forms of electrification. RZ 450e is a battery-electric vehicle. RX 450h+ is a plug-in hybrid, combining an externally rechargeable battery with an internal-combustion engine. Lexus correctly describes the pair as electrified vehicles; calling both fully electric would erase that mechanical distinction.
Why MSCHF calls them Form Cars
MSCHF labels Circle Car and Twisted Car “Form Cars”, an inversion of the industry's familiar “concept car”. A conventional concept may preview a design direction, technology or production model. These works make no such promise. They begin with vehicles already in production and remove their utility to focus on shape and implied movement.
The collective links the distortions to animation smear frames. Animators temporarily stretch, squash or bend a subject beyond realistic boundaries so that rapid action reads smoothly when the frames are played in sequence. MOTOMORPHOSIS freezes that digital visual language in physical objects. The ring suggests the RZ is driving forever around a circle; the spiral makes the RX look caught mid-twist.
This is more specific than simply making two unusual body kits. Each work applies one operation across the whole vehicle. Circle Car follows a closed curve. Twisted Car follows a rotating axis. Door openings, glass, wheels and body lines are subordinated to that rule, which is why the sculptures remain legible even though they cannot function as cars.
A short exhibition with free admission
MOTOMORPHOSIS is installed at Chelsea Industrial, 545 West 28th Street, New York, NY 10001, during the city's Armory Week. The opening took place on Thursday 24 September from 7pm to 9pm. Public hours were announced for Friday 25 and Saturday 26 September from 10am to 6pm local time.
Admission is free with an RSVP through the exhibition website. Lexus has not announced a touring schedule, a European appearance or a commercial release for either sculpture. The confirmed public run lasts three days, so the dates should not be read as the launch window for a product.
Lisa McQueen, senior manager of Lexus marketing, framed the commission around a question: discussions of electrification normally concern how a car is powered, while MOTOMORPHOSIS asks what electricity might power in the imagination. That statement explains the brand's creative brief. It does not disclose a new battery, powertrain or production strategy.
The comparison is part of the work
Showing the standard cars beside their altered doubles is central to the exhibition. Visitors can trace the RZ's roof, wheel position and spindle-body cues into the Circle Car loop, then compare the RX's horizontal proportions with the torsion of Twisted Car. Without those references, the objects would move closer to abstract sculpture; with them, every deformation becomes a comparison.
The installation also sets a useful limit for automotive reporting. There are no meaningful acceleration figures, luggage capacities or driving impressions for these pieces. Lexus warns that the modified vehicles may be unsafe and non-compliant for road use. Treating them like engineering demonstrators would turn an art commission into an unsupported product claim.
For a visitor, the practical information is unusually narrow: Chelsea Industrial, the published hours, free entry and an RSVP. For Lexus and MSCHF, the subject is the contradiction between a machine defined by movement and a static sculpture that only depicts movement. Circle Car resolves that contradiction with an endless route; Twisted Car captures a shape that appears to be moving even when it is fixed to the gallery floor.
