Deep in New Jersey, down a nondescript road that only insiders would know to find, sits an industrial building that looks like it should house forklifts or surplus packaging. Instead, it contains a climate-controlled vault showcasing 60 cars transformed by some of today's most prolific artists and musicians, all displayed like artifacts in a supersized gallery.
Larry Warsh, the mastermind behind this extraordinary collection, greets visitors dressed entirely in black – loose long sleeves, joggers, cap, and Meta's new recording Ray-Bans that he's visibly excited to use. Within minutes of meeting, he's flashing a custom grill that artist A$AP Ferg gifted him, engraved with unmistakable doodles from Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Despite his low public profile and virtually nonexistent social media presence, Warsh regularly fields calls from music's biggest names seeking to buy their first painting or commission their own art car.
For four decades, Warsh has built his career on identifying what will matter before anyone else catches on. He came up in downtown New York City during the 1980s, living on Astor Place when the art scene was still gritty, unpolished, and pre-internet. Artists like Basquiat, Haring, and Kenny Scharf were just beginning to make noise, selling paintings for what would sound like lunch money by today's standards. But Warsh wasn't merely observing – he was buying aggressively, excessively, and compulsively, as he describes it.
That compulsion built him a collection packed with works by Ai Weiwei, KAWS, and numerous other renowned artists. However, collecting was just one aspect of his multifaceted career. He has also published rare art texts, built digital platforms, and opened doors to a contemporary art world that's typically locked from the inside. His collection includes standout pieces like a Barbara Kruger-outfitted school bus, which ranks among his favorite items.
Today, Warsh has thrown himself completely into CART Department, a project that repositions automobiles as cultural vessels – not merely transportation or status symbols, but rolling canvases for storytelling. The irony is striking: most of these cars aren't meant to be driven, and Warsh doesn't even have a driver's license. He repeatedly insists he's "not a car guy," yet his garage might be the most culturally significant automotive collection on the planet.
Warsh's collecting obsession began early in life. "I was collecting from a very early age. Always compulsively – porcelain, paperweights, trading cards, comic books," he explains. "Some family members collected fine art and antiquities. Around 12, I started going to Sotheby's, which pointed me toward acquiring things of real value. Collecting is a gene. It's not so simple to understand, but I was definitely excessive in what I wanted to accumulate."
His entry into contemporary art came through connections like René Ricard, whom he describes as "a literary genius and wild man." Warsh's apartment became a revolving door for drawings, paintings, and sculptures from artists including George Condo, Basquiat, Francesco Clemente, and Kenny Scharf. "René would get gifts from artists and bring them to me to buy. That was pivotal; you had to be there to feel the energy," Warsh recalls. "I focused on a few artists, but when I liked someone, I went deep. I bought Basquiat, Haring, and Scharf in excessive quantities because I knew they'd be important. And art was cheap. My first painting was $10,000. Drawings were a couple thousand."
What gave Warsh such confidence in these then-unknown artists was "the energy, and the crystallization of what was happening downtown," he explains. "When buying art, you have to project ahead. Will it hold up? Is it truly important? I knew these guys were, even if the world didn't know yet." This foresight also led him to acquire Basquiat's notebooks, which he discovered through René Ricard. "René came to my house raving, 'You gotta come with me!' We went to Michael Holman and Nick Taylor's place – Jean-Michel used to hang there. I saw the journals, and I was compelled. They were battle sketches of what was to come. Basquiat always started with words. He was a word artist before paint and canvas."
The current art market presents different challenges, according to Warsh. "Today there's just too much noise. It's hard to know what's really important," he observes. This has changed his collecting approach significantly. "I've mostly stopped. I buy once in a blue moon – only things I'm comfortable with. Cars became my new obsession. Commissioning art cars replaced buying paintings."
The transition to cars came somewhat accidentally. Despite not being a "car person" who doesn't drive or have a license, Warsh owned a Keith Haring car and a Kenny Scharf car from his deep collecting of those artists. After years of expensive storage, his friend Adam Lindemann borrowed them for the "Piston Head" exhibition at Herzog & de Meuron in 2013. "Walking into that show, I thought, 'I love this idea of art cars,'" Warsh remembers.
The appeal of art cars lies in their unique ability to bridge different audiences. "What's great about art cars is they pull different audiences – car people, art people. That bridge isn't obvious, but it's powerful," he explains. "I hope in 50 years these cars are somewhere important. The artists will be gone, I'll be gone, but the works will represent a time." He defines an art car as "a representation of an artist's ideology on a moving canvas. Whether painted, projected, or treated another way, it reflects their practice."
The collaborative process is central to each project. "I commission, pay for production, and let the artist decide," Warsh explains. "Nina Chanel [Abney] wanted a pickup. Lawrence Weiner picked his because it was the first car he had sex in. Rashid Johnson's car is filled with 'Soul on Ice' in honor of his mother, a historian." The collection includes diverse works like Joshua Vides' surreal 2D motorcycle, Swiss pop artist Sylvie Fleury's sculpture that renders a car anonymous, Damien Hirst's polka-dot Mini Cooper, and Quavo's 2010 Mercedes-Benz covered with his literal handprints.
Musicians have become an increasingly important part of the project. "Musicians broaden our audience beyond the traditional art world. I want these cars to bridge art heads and gearheads," Warsh states. The collection includes works connected to major music figures, including the Maybach from Jay-Z and Kanye West's "Otis" video, Quavo's personally designed car, and a piece from Pharrell Williams.
Among his personal favorites, Warsh highlights several standout pieces: "Rashid Johnson's car. Jenny Holzer's Hummer critiquing war. Barbara Kruger's bus with 'Fuck You, Supreme' messaging and skate pop-ups. Olafur Eliasson's heat map car. Each piece says something." The collection also features Ugo Rondinone's picture-perfect Cloud Car and Lars Fisk's completely transformed "Dodge Ball" vehicle.
Looking ahead, Warsh has ambitious plans for both his art and automotive projects. He's preparing a Basquiat exhibition in Seoul opening this September, which will create a chapel for the artist's notebooks alongside a large mural. "It'll be a Word Museum. Text was such an important part of his history. The mural will be surrounded by almost 200 pages of his text. The chapel will be modeled after the Rothko Chapel in Texas," he explains.
For his car collection, Warsh envisions building "a global destination – not just a car museum, but an independent art experience for future generations to see. After all, cars are dinosaurs." When asked about his dream collaboration, he suggests "a group project: pop, minimalist, surrealist artists all on one car. But I want more music artists, too. They're relevant and creative. A car is the perfect medium for them to mess with."
Through CART Department, Warsh continues his four-decade mission of identifying and preserving cultural significance, now using automobiles as the canvas for artistic expression that bridges the gap between high art and popular culture.
