Affinities between technology and art on display at the Guggenheim Museum
18 May, 2022The exhibition 'Motion. Autos, Art, Architecture', open at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao from April until 18 September, explores the relevance of the automobile in relation to the history of art and design in the last century. On display are 38 emblematic automobiles, in addition to 300 other pieces of art and design, as well as models from some of the most influential architects and designers of the last century.
The exhibition also explores the affinities between technology and art. It shows, for example, how the use of the wind tunnel helped to give automobiles an aerodynamic shape so that they could go faster while using energy more economically. This aerodynamic revolution was echoed in the works from the Futurist movement and other artists of the same period, and it was eventually reflected in the industrial design of everything from household appliances to locomotives.
Nearly forty automobiles have been brought together for the occasion, a selection of the best in each class in terms of beauty, uniqueness, technical progress and vision of the future. Placed in the centre of the halls and surrounded by important works of art and architecture, many of them are being presented to a wide audience for the first time, as they have never left the private collections or public institutions to which they belong.
The automobile has radically transformed the urban and rural landscape of our planet more than any other invention and, in turn, our way of life. As we stand on the threshold of a new electric power revolution, this exhibition could be seen as a requiem for the last days of combustion.