Meet the Graffiti Artist Behind Rolls-Royce’s Wildest Cullinan
Article Summary
- Rolls-Royce’s latest video traces Cyril Kongo’s journey from tagging city streets to collaborating with the luxury automaker.
- The Cullinan’s hand-painted interior blends graffiti with planets, atoms, formulas, and other elements of the artist’s “Kongo-verse.”
- The Black Badge Cullinan by Cyril Kongo remains a sold, one-of-one commission with no publicly disclosed price.
There are a lot of different ways to say it. But, defined one way, Rolls-Royce specializes in making cars with scope. Every year, we see a handful of special one-offs from the brand that usually showcase an artist, art style, or specific detail. Last year, it was the Rolls-Royce Phantom Scintilla. This year at least one car is a total stylistic break from past endeavors. The Black Badge Cullinan by Cyril Kongo gives the upper crust a taste of street art and space fantasy.
Exploring the Graffiti Cullinan — and Kongo
Rolls-Royce makes it a point, generally, to sit down and talk to the artists and artisans behind their cars. Particularly when a special edition rolls around, and especially if an artist is extensively featured as Cyril Kongo was. Today’s video details Cyril Kongo’s beginnings, detailing his early years as a street artist and student. He talks a little bit about how his art helped morph his personality, essentially splitting him into two parts: “Cyril,” the student by day, and “Kongo,” the artist running around tagging walls, streets, and anything else he could write on.
According to the artist, Kongo’s recent projects have centralized around what he dubs the “Kongo-verse.” It’s a good way to summarize the artist’s approach to the graffiti Black Badge Cullinan. The Kongo-verse comprises “numbers, formulas, a planet that doesn’t exist, a pyramid, atoms.” You’ll see a lot of similarity with the shapes that appear on the Cullinan’s graffitied interior components. “You are in my universe, within the Rolls-Royce universe,” the artist tells the camera.
Working with Rolls-Royce is surely a dream collaboration for some. “I like collaboration,” Cyril starts humbly, “because I’m meeting passionate people.” Anyone familiar with the granular detail and truly grueling levels of precision Rolls-Royce commands would be inclined to agree. Although, perhaps “passionate” is an understatement. The artist enjoys a warm moment of soaking up his handiwork for the first time, with the finished car, admiring both the detail and quality. “When you are talking with people who are looking for excellence, they never say no, they always give you an answer.”
The Black Badge Cullinan Remains a One of One
Like we said earlier: the Black Badge Cullinan by Cyril Kongo is a pretty radical step for Rolls-Royce. Before the epic Scintilla debut last year, we saw equally interesting — but perhaps more mainstream — cars that celebrated the Year of the Dragon. Those cars featured a starlight headliner requiring an additional 667 fiber-optic “stars,” arranged in the outline of a dragon. The year prior, Rolls treated us to “La Rose Noire.” The emotional red and black Droptail featured a unique petal motif on the dash and, very fittingly, a champagne chest complemented by two hand-blown crystal champagne flutes.
Kongo’s Black Badge Cullinan remains a one of one example. It’s sold, if you were wondering; besides which, we’re guessing the old adage “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it” applies here. Past that, the car is also a testament to what’s possible through the Rolls-Royce Bespoke program. In the past, Kongo’s tackled similar projects in the horology realm; the Richard Mille RM 68-01 Cyril Kongo Tourbillon was an exclusive, 30-piece run that commands upwards of $2 million on the secondhand market.
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