norman foster's ‘motion’ exhibits 38 rare vehicles and 300 works of art

at guggenheim museum bilbao

from april 8 to september 18, the guggenheim museum bilbao presents ‘motion. autos, art, architecture’, sponsored by iberdrola and volkswagen group, an exhibition that celebrates the artistry of the automobile realm sewn into the parallel worlds of painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, and film. taking a holistic approach, the exhibition challenges the separate silos of these disciplines and explores how they are visually and culturally linked. 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.

designed by norman foster and curated with lekha hileman waitoller and manuel cirauqui of guggenheim museum bilbao, the exhibition houses around forty automobiles, each the best of its kind in such terms as beauty, rarity, technical progress, and a vision of the future. they take up the center of the space while enveloped in the works of art and architecture. many of the works on display have never before left their homes in private collections and public institutions, and as such, are being presented to a wider audience for the first time.

mercedes-AMG F1 W11 EQ performance formula one racing car / image by mercedes‑benz AG

across the museum

the exhibition is spread over ten spaces in the museum. each of the seven galleries is themed in roughly chronological order. these start with ‘beginnings’ and continue as ‘sculptures’, ‘popularising’, ‘sporting’, ‘visionaries’, and ‘americana’ and close with a gallery dedicated to what the future of mobility may hold.

‘future’ shows the work of a younger generation of students from sixteen schools of design and architecture on four continents, who were invited by the norman foster foundation to imagine what mobility might be at the end of the century, coinciding roughly with the 200th anniversary of the birth of the automobile. the remaining four spaces comprise a corridor containing a timeline and immersive sound experience, a live clay-modeling studio, and an area devoted to models.

pegaso z-102 cúpula, 1952 / image by louwman museum

exploring the past and present

ignacio s. galán, chairman and CEO of iberdrola, says that the exhibit helps explore the multiple connections the automotive creations have to the visual arts and architecture. ‘this major exhibition of the guggenheim museum bilbao, curated by norman foster, affords us a splendid opportunity to contemplate the past and present of this sector. and also to imagine a future in which the automobile goes even further in contributing to social progress and sustainable development while it continues to be the best example of industry’s capacity to combine aesthetics, function, and technology.’

herbert diess, chairman of the board of management of volkswagen group, affirms the abovementioned statement. ‘individual mobility is a major driver of our freedom. the most emotional and most used mode of transport is the car. and the car is here to stay. by 2030, the world of mobility will have undergone the greatest transformation since the transition from horse‑drawn carriages to automobiles at the beginning of the twentieth century. the journey of individual mobility is exciting and greatly reflected in automobiles, art, and architecture, and this unique exhibition explores mobility, virtuosity, and ingenuity from a variety of angles.’

ferrari 250 GTO / image by ben de chair