Motion. Autos, Art, Architecture

Motion. Autos, Art, Architecture celebrates the artistic dimension of the automobile and links it to the parallel worlds of painting, sculpture, architecture, photography and film. In this holistic approach, the exhibition challenges the separate silos of these disciplines and explores how they are visually and culturally linked together.

The exhibition considers the affinities between technology and art, showing for example how the use of the wind tunnel helped to aerodynamically shape the automobile to go faster with more economic use of power. This streamlining revolution was echoed in works of the Futurist movement and by other artists of the period. It was also reflected in the industrial design of everything, from household appliances to locomotives.

The exhibition brings together nearly forty automobiles—each the best of its kind in such terms as beauty, rarity, technical progress and a vision of the future. These are placed centre stage in the galleries and surrounded by significant works of art and architecture. Many of these have never before left their homes in private collections and public institutions, so they are being opened up to a wider audience for the first time. Unlike any other single invention, the automobile has completely transformed the urban and rural landscape of our planet and in turn our lifestyle. We are on the edge of a new revolution of electric power, so this exhibition could be seen as a requiem for the last days of combustion.

Curated by Norman Foster; Lekha Hileman Waitoller, Manuel Cirauqui, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao