The Art of the Motorcycle
* Later derivative exhibitions licensing the name were put on by Wonders: The Memphis International Cultural Series and the Orlando Museum of Art, and others, using some of the original catalog and a variety of interior designs, but not curated by the Guggenheim. | |
The Art of the Motorcycle was an exhibition that presented 114[8] motorcycles chosen for their historic importance or design excellence[9] in a display designed by Frank Gehry in the curved rotunda of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, running for three months in late 1998.[dubious ][10][11] The exhibition attracted the largest crowds ever at that museum,[12] and received mixed but positive reviews in the art world, with the exception of some art and social critics who rejected outright the existence of such a show at an institution like the Guggenheim, condemning it for excessive populism, and for being compromised by the financial influence of its sponsors.[10][13]
The unusual move to place motorcycles in the Guggenheim came from director
The exhibition was the beginning of a new trend in profitable, blockbuster museum exhibits,
Exhibition
The catalog of the exhibition covered a broad range of historic motorcycles starting from pre-20th century steam-powered
The interior of the Guggenheim's spiral ramp was covered in reflective stainless steel, a design by Frank Gehry, with a stylized pavement under the tires of the exhibits, and the bikes not leaned over on their kickstands, but rather standing up, as if in motion, held by thin wires and small clear plastic chocks under the wheels.[11] Early examples from the 19th century, steam cycles and three wheelers mostly, were in a single room near the entrance. The first series produced motorcycle, and the first motorcycle included in the exhibition catalog proper, the 1894 Hildebrand & Wolfmüller stood outside the gallery.[11] The exhibition also featured a film exhibit, "The Motorcycle on Screen," with Easy Rider director Dennis Hopper speaking, and clips from that film as well as the Buster Keaton silent film Sherlock Jr., Andy Warhol's Bike Boy, and the TV show CHiPs.[10]
The year 1998 coincided with the 50th anniversary of
BMW's interest in the world of fine art was not unprecedented, as that company had experimented with commissioning prominent artists to paint some of their race cars in the 1970s, leading to the collection, the BMW Art Cars,[19] becoming an ongoing project exhibited in the Louvre, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, and in 2009, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and New York's Grand Central Terminal.[20][21]
The Chicago
Popularity
Average attendance was at 45 percent higher than normal, with over 4,000 visitors daily,
Historical context
In 1969
Other trends were at work as well, with a succession of public museum controversies over shocking art reaching back to the sixties, but coming to a head in the 1980s and 1990s with battles over art financed by the US National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The fights over financing of shows by Robert Mapplethorpe and others drew bitter battle lines, with most artists, museum directors, gallery owners, and critics lining up to defend free expression and public financing of art with no restrictions on content. Opponents of this art were generally focused on cutting off funding for and evicting offensive art from public spaces, but there was also a positive side to their arguments, that the proper financing of art was in private sector and art which could successfully attract private financing was by definition deserving of being shown.[26] Jacob Weisberg of Slate saw the efforts of directors like Krens to drive overflowing museum attendance, at the cost of showing something other than, in Weistberg's view, real art, as a demonstration that they are not an elitist institution, a direct answer, and capitulation, to conservative attacks on museums and the NEA for shows like Mapplethorpe's.[15]
It was in 1989 and 1990, one decade before The Art of the Motorcycle, that Mapplethorpe's The Perfect Moment exhibition was hounded from one venue to another by outraged conservatives. It was at this point also when performance artist Karen Finley was denied NEA funding, and Andres Serrano's Piss Christ became another center of controversy.[26] The 1990s saw one victory after another for the conservative movement in public art and museums.[29] The economy was booming, and a kind of optimism was felt and expressed by such colorful figures as Malcolm Forbes, whose "Capitalist Tools Motorcycle Club" toured exotic venues celebrating both wealth and a love of fine motorcycles.
In the summer of 1999, the Brooklyn Museum did battle with then-New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani over the exhibition "Sensation," with charges of presenting sexually and religiously offensive art. In the face of all this, and the series of battles in the American culture war, The Art of the Motorcycle stood as a counterpoint, and possibly the high-water mark for the other kind of museum show: not offensive, not exclusive, but welcoming to the sensibilities of the general public. People who were baffled and irritated by modern and postmodern art could feel good about this show. The financing, while critics cried foul, was private. The show was by nature consented to directly by those who paid the bills, rather than passive taxpayers, and it was aimed at keeping the audience happy, rather than inciting rage with, say, US flags stuffed into toilets, as had been done in one famous museum exhibit decades earlier.[26]
One decade after The Art of the Motorcycle opened, Thomas Krens has stepped aside from the top position at the Guggenheim.[30] The New York Times' Holland Cotter has declared the blockbuster exhibition dead, victim of a weak economy that cannot afford such expensive excess, though this was on a positive note, suggesting a new and exuberant role for independent artists and smaller venues.[31]
Critical reception
Reaction to the exhibition came from two distinct camps of critics, with few having views from both. One camp rejected the very idea of The Art of the Motorcycle, having nothing to do with the machines on display in the Guggenheim or Thomas Krens' way of displaying them, nor his way of financing such a show. The other camp accepted in principle that such a show was acceptable, as art, or at least as subject for a museum like the Guggenheim, and from that basis formed a range of opinions about the quality of the show itself.
Outright condemnation
The exhibition was condemned outright by some art critics and social commenters who rejected the very existence of an exhibition of motorcycles at the Guggenheim.[14] They saw it as a failure of the museum to carry out its social role as a leader and educator of the public's understanding of art. Rather than guide the masses toward works they might not have considered or been aware of, The Art of the Motorcycle showed them things they already were familiar with, and already liked; in other words, pandering to the lowest common denominator by giving people more of what they wanted and none of what they needed. To the extent that the exhibition responded to desires other than what made the public feel good, the Guggenheim was catering to the marketing needs of the shows sponsors, in particular BMW. They saw a great cultural institution renting itself out as an exhibition hall for a mere trade show.[27]
In his book The Future of Freedom, journalist and author Fareed Zakaria argued that the Guggenheim's motorcycle exhibition, and other populist shows, were indicative of the downfall of American civilization in general, due to the undermining of traditional centers of authority and intellectual leadership.[32] Zakaria writes that Thomas Krens' "gimmicks are flamboyant and often upstage the art itself,"[33] and that the point is not to get the public to look at the art anyway, but only to get them into the museum. While not rejecting that modern and commercial work should be included in modern art shows, Zakaria says, with The New Republic's Jed Perl, that the show fails to "define a style or period" and instead merely parrots current taste, giving the public validation. Due to the overly dependent relationship with BMW, the show is driven by non-aesthetic criteria, and is too politically correct and uncontroversial. Zakaria goes on to point out that, indeed, the Guggenheim gave up plans for a show "Picasso and the Age of Iron" because it was too old-fashioned to attract a sponsor, and that BMW turned down a request to sponsor a show "Masterworks from Munich" because Munich isn't sexy.[34]
Zakaria equates sexiness and buzz with popularity, which drives profit, pointing to a connection between democratization and marketization. This means bad aesthetic choices will be made by the people,[35] rather than having informed, aesthetically sound leadership by aristocratic arbiters of taste whose wealth frees them from ulterior motives, enabling them to lead a reluctant public to perhaps challenging and unenjoyable art, that is nonetheless good for them.[36]
These misgivings were cemented for many when the Guggenheim followed a few months later with an homage to fashion designer Giorgio Armani in a show whose financing was even more suspect. Armani had pledged US$15 million to the Guggenheim Foundation and appeared to be rewarded in a quid pro quo manner with an uncritical and otherwise unjustified marketing coup at one of New York's most prestigious venues.
This type of criticism was described by Jeremy Packer as an
Criticism of content
Among critics who accepted the premise of the show and the legitimacy of motorcycles under the Guggenheim's roof, since museums have included design exhibitions before, and shown, for example, utilitarian bowls or ancient chariots as art,
With regard to the content, the concept that the motorcycle could serve as a metaphor for the 20th century was received with interest, but some wondered whether the claim was fulfilled by the appearance of the motorcycles chosen and the way they were presented. The motorcycles shown did, at least, "illustrate technology and taste as they have evolved together in the 20th century, which is an issue basic to modern art."[28] While there were many who lauded Frank Gehry's spare design, with only the reflective stainless steel and a terse string of words on the walls behind the bikes to evoke the decade they came from,[37] others saw this as shallow or a failure to offer as much insight as the show could have.[citation needed]
Some of the text was criticized as flippant, and the connection between the social and historical context and the motorcycle designs produced from that was left unexplained.[
Packer also argues that "progressivist, developmentalist logic was underpinned by the chronological ordering" of the exhibits themselves, with the clean, productive member of the establishment image of motorcyclists found at the end of the progression.[13]
The New York Times' Jim McCraw was satisfied that, "All the great bikes of the 20th century are represented," and the catalog is "impressive in its depth, breadth and purpose, worth several visits for avid motorcyclists." However, McCraw pointed out the following omissions: the
Slate's Jacob Weisberg found 114 motorcycles in the catalog to be too many, and too boring for the non-motorcycle aficionado. In contrast to critics like Zakaria, Perl, and Hilton Kramer, who want museums to challenge and educate the public with difficult art like abstract expressionism, which might require a little homework to learn to like, Weisberg complained that the information accompanying the motorcycle exhibits was too technical and bewildering to the non-gearhead, with talk of self-aligning bearings, compression ratios and near-hemispherical combustion chambers. That is, he wrote, "the approach is design-technical rather than design-aesthetic or design-cultural," and thus it failed to make the case that industrial design is more than just the "stepchild of fine art" and that "the cross-fertilization of high and pop is an important part of the story of artistic modernism."[15]
The selection of motorcycles was overwhelmingly Western, and mostly limited to motorcycles of the United States market, and mostly of the high end, leaving out utilitarian examples.
Legacy
In the year following the opening of the Guggenheim motorcycle exhibition,
After the Las Vegas exhibit, derivative versions of The Art of the Motorcycle were presented at
See also
Notes
- ^ a b Patton (2003)
- ^ a b c Albertson
- ^ a b Edwards (2007)
- ^ a b Past Exhibitions | The Art of the Motorcycle (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum), The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 2009
- ^ Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa (2009)
- ^ Past Exhibitions | The Art of the Motorcycle (Guggenheim Las Vegas), The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 2009
- ^ a b c d e f Falco
- ^ There were about 19 pre-20th century motorcycles shown in NYC along with the 95 in the official catalog, totaling 114 by most accounts. Some news media gave varying reports of the exact count (from 105 to as high as 140). Later exhibitions in other venues made substitutions, additions and deletions from the original collection.
- ^ a b Sawetz. "The Art of the Motorcycle is curated by Thomas Krens, Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, with the help of a team of experts: curatorial advisors Ultan Guilfoyle of the Solomon Guggenheim Museum and University of Arizona Physics Professor Charles Falco; exhibition co-ordinator Manon Slome, and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Curatorial Department. Works displayed are on loan from the Barber Vintage Motorsport Museum, the Munich Deutsches Museum, and the Otis Chandler Museum of Transportation and Wildlife, among others. [...] The exhibition brings together motorbikes renowned for their extraordinary design and innovative use of technology."
- ^ a b c d e Kinsella (1998)
- ^ a b c d e f g McCraw (1998)
- ^ a b c d e Plagens (1998)
- ^ a b c d e f g Packer (2008) pp 154-159
- ^ a b c Overholser (2008)
- ^ a b c d e Weisberg (1998)
- ^ Vogel (1999)
- ^ The Economist (2001)
- ^ Green (2005)
- ^ BMW in the Community (2009)
- ^ "BMW Art Cars; February 12–24, 2009", [LACMA:Los Angeles County Museum of Art], Museum Associates dba the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
- ^ Powell (2009)
- ^ a b de LaFuente (1998)
- ^ a b c Vogel (1998)
- ^ Kammen (2007) p. 288
- ^ Bilwise (1999)
- ^ a b c d Kammen (2007)
- ^ a b c d e Hyde (1998)
- ^ a b c d e Kimmelman (1998)
- ^ Plagens (1998) "And in a society where the political climate discourages public funding of 'elitist' cultural institutions, museums are thinking more about box office. So now they're selling tickets to bike lovers. Isn't 'diversity' supposed to be a good thing in America?"
- ^ The New York Times staff (2009)
- ^ Cotter (2009)
- ^ Zakaria (2004) pp. 216-219
- ^ Zakaria (2004) pp. 218
- ^ Zakaria (2004) pp. 219
- ^ Zakaria (2004) pp. 220
- ^ Zakaria (2004) pp. 216
- ^ McCraw (1998) "The presentation is simple, straightforward and uncluttered. There are no rails, cables or cordons between the viewer and the motorcycles. [...] The walls are stark white, and bare, with the exception of a historic-placement blurb at the start of each section, and there is plenty of light on the subjects.
Mr. Gehry and his colleagues could have slathered the walls with film stills, advertising and poster art, but they didn't, and the exhibition is better for it. These are elsewhere, mounted in display cases along the rails of the walkways." - ^ Sahlins (1993) essentialized culture: a supposedly unchanging inheritance, sheltered from the contestation of a true social existence.
- ^ Iles (2005)
- ^ United Nations (2005)
- ^ ROCK STYLE IS THEME FOR METROPOLITAN MUSEUM'S DECEMBER COSTUME INSTITUTE EXHIBITION, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 3 December 1999
- ^ "BMW arts series aims at black consumers", Automotive News, vol. 80, no. 6215, p. 37, August 7, 2006
- ^ Lieberman (2000)
- ^ Wadler (2003)
- ^ Hall (2008)
- ^ Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum (2007)
- ^ Bermuda National Gallery
- ^ Meacham (2009)
References
- Albertson, Karla Klein, Art On Wheels; The Art Of The Motorcycle; The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Antiques and the Arts Online, archived from the original on 2009-07-24, retrieved 2009-07-07
- Bermuda National Gallery, Forthcoming exhibitions; Bermuda's Bikes: The Art of the Motorcycle, archived from the original on 2009-06-09, retrieved 2009-08-03
- Bliwise, Robert J. (January–February 1999), "Burnishing The Golden Age Of Art; Museum Momentum", Duke Magazine, vol. 85, no. 2, Durham, North Carolina: Duke University, archived from the original on 2010-06-10, retrieved 2009-10-26
- Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa (2009), The Art of the Motorcycle - Keys Museo Guggenheim Bilbao, archived from the original on 2011-07-18, retrieved 2009-07-01
- BMW in the Community (2009), BMW in the Community : The Arts : Art of the Motor, BMW of North America, LLC
- Cotter, Holland (9 September 2009), "Top of the Wish List: No More Blockbusters", The New York Times
- de LaFuente, Della (8 October 1998), "It's Hog Heaven; Motorcycle exhibit roaring into Field Museum", Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago, Illinois, p. 4
- Dernie, David (2006), Exhibition design, Laurence King Publishing, pp. 108–113, ISBN 1-85669-430-5
- Economist, The (US) (21 April 2001), When merchants enter the temple; Marketing museums., The Economist Newspaper and The Economist Group
- Edwards, David (2007), "World Record Garage Sale; Otis Chandler auction brings $36 million!", Cycle World, Hachette Filipacchi Media, U.S., archived from the original on 2007-02-14, retrieved 2009-07-07
- Ellison, Michael (16 December 2000), "Giorgio's new emporium; The Guggenheim has given itself over to Armani. Michael Ellison despair", The Guardian
- Falco, Charles M., The Art of the Motorcycle, archived from the originalon 2004-12-29
- Ford, Dexter (16 March 2011), "Guggenheim to Auction 'Easy Rider' Replica Choppers", New York Times, retrieved 2011-03-16
- Green, Tyler (31 May 2005), "Help Wanted: 18 Museums Seek Directors, Ethics in Spotlight", Bloomberg.com
- Hall, Landon (2 April 2008), "THE CLASSIC LIFE; More stars join Motostars exhibit", Motorcycle Classics, Ogden Publications
- Hyde, James (December 1988), ""The Art of the Motorcycle" at the Guggenheim", Art in America, Brant Publications, Inc. and Gale, Cengage Learning
- Iles, Richard (2005), Public transport in developing countries, Emerald Group Publishing, p. 50, ISBN 0-08-044558-6
- Kammen, Michael G. (2007), Visual Shock: A History of Art Controversies in American Culture, Random House, ISBN 978-1-4000-3464-2
- Kimmelman, Michael (26 June 1998), "ART REVIEW; Machines As Art, And Art As Machine", The New York Times, p. E35
- Kinsella, Eileen (22 May 1998), "Guggenheim in Rare Tie-In With BMW for Bike Show", The Wall Street Journal
- ISBN 0-8109-6912-2
- Lieberman, Paul (20 October 2000), "Museum's Maverick Showman", Los Angeles Times
- Meacham, Steve (28 January 2009), "Two legs good ... two wheels better", The Sydney Morning Herald
- McCraw, Jim (10 July 1998), "Art That Stands on Its Own 2 Wheels", The New York Times
- Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum (13 December 2007), Museum announces major new exhibit, "MotoStars: Celebrities + Motorcycles", archived from the original on 2009-07-03, retrieved 2009-07-30
- Overholser, Geneva (12 June 2000), "Museums are abandoning dusty foolishness", Dallas Morning News, Dallas, Texas
- Packer, Jeremy (2008), Mobility without mayhem: safety, cars, and citizenship, Duke University Press, ISBN 978-0-8223-3963-2
- Patton, Phil (11 April 2003), "DRIVING; The Racers Are Sleek, But the Track Is Sleeker", The New York Times, p. F1
- Patton, Phil (12 March 2009), "These Canvases Need Oil and a Good Driver", The New York Times
- Plagens, Peter; Devin, Gordon (7 September 1998), "Rumble on the Ramps", Newsweek, vol. 132, no. 10, p. 80
- S2CID 143748508
- Sawetz, Karin, "The Art of the Motorcycle At the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao", Fashionoffice.org – Trend Magazine, Vienna, Austria
- Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, The (2009), Past Exhibitions The Art of the Motorcycle (Guggenheim Museum Bilbao)
- staff (2009), "Thomas Krens News", The New York Times
- Tenn WONDERS (2005), The Art of the Motorcycle, Memphis: WONDERS, ISBN 0-89207-324-1Museum catalog based on an abridged version of The Art of the Motorcycle (1995)
- United Nations. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, United Nations (2005), Road Safety, United Nations Publications, p. 62, ISBN 92-1-120428-3
- Vogel, Carol (3 August 1998), "Latest Biker Hangout? Guggenheim Ramp", The New York Times, p. A1
- Vogel, Carol (15 December 1999), "Armani Gift to the Guggenheim Revives Issue of Art and Commerce", The New York Times, p. E1
- Wallis, Michael; Clark, Marian (2004), Hogs on 66: Best Feed and Hangouts for Road Trips on Route 66, Council Oak Books, ISBN 1-57178-140-4
- Wadler, Joyce (13 March 2003), "BOLDFACE NAMES", The New York Times
- Weisberg, Jacob (6 September 1998), "Exhibiting Contempt; Populism vs. democracy at the art museum", Slate, Washington Post. Newsweek Interactive Co.
- ISBN 0-393-32487-7