Page 19 - The MoMA/ Guggenheim issue of World of Art magazine (2001)

The Art of the Motorcycle

The Guggenheim museum’s landmark exhibition, The Art of on view at the Guggenheim museums in both New York
the motorcycle, will inaugurate the Guggenheim las Vegas and Bilbao. For las Vegas, Gehry has created his most
with a new installation designed by Frank o. Gehry. The Art ambitious installation to date. Featuring curved polished
of the motorcycle premiered in New York at the Solomon stainless steel walls, towering chain-link curtains and
r. Guggenheim museum in the summer of 1998, where glass floors, the new design responds to both the massive
it drew record numbers of visitors and was heralded as a scale of the new Guggenheim las Vegas and the materials
ground-breaking cultural event. Following its presentation and craftsmenship of the motorcycles themselves.
in New York, the exhibition traveled to the Field museum of
Natural History in chicago, and to the Guggenheim museum proudly sponsored by delta Air lines.
This exhibition is made possible by BmW motorcycles and
The Guggenheim Las Vegas was conceived for the with the michaux-Perreaux (1868)—essentially a steam engine Youngblood.
contemporary painting and sculpture, to architecture and
Bilbao, Spain, where it also broke attendance records. The
presentation of special exhibitions, ranging from
exhibition chronicles the most compelling moments in the
evolution of motorcycle technology and design, and places
The Art of the motorcycle is curated by Thomas Krens,
Rem Koolhaas/Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA),
the motorcycle within a cultural and historical context. more
director of the Solomon r. Guggenheim Foundation, in
than 130 motorcycles are arranged chronologically, beginning
conjunction with Ultan Guilfoyle and charles Falco. The
las Vegas venue for the exhibition is organized by the
approximately 210-feet-long, 160-feet-wide, and 70-feet-high.
Museum Architecture: The main gallery in the 63,700-square-foot building is posters, made available for the first time for the las Vegas of the motorcycle, questions of reconstruction and issues
attached to a bicycle—to the latest and most technologically
The largest gallery features a 70-foot by 70-foot pivoting door,
staff of the Solomon r. Guggenheim museum and ed
advanced models. Punctuating the chronology are two
as well as a functioning industrial bridge crane—hovering
close to the ceiling and suspended from tracks at either side
thematic sections, which highlight custom motorcycles and
of the space—with a lifting capacity of 35 tons. The main floor
post-World War II racing models. In addition, the exhibition
The Art of the motorcycle, a fully illustrated, 400-page
Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Museum Description: design, and multi-media art. advertising and sales brochures, as well as original motorcycle accompany the exhibition. It is edited by matthew drutt
will feature a large collection of approximately 200 pieces
catalogue published by the Guggenheim museum and
which can either be covered with 21 five-ton trench covers to
of motorcycle ephemera and memorabilia, including
distributed to the trade by Harry N. Abrams, Inc., will
create a single level, or the trench covers can be selectively
removed to reveal the galleries on the lower level. The lower
and includes essays about the design and social history
level is accessed either by escalators or via a 30-foot-wide
presentation. The exhibition will also contain a substantial
lime green processional staircase. A skylight in the ceiling—
125-feet by 70-feet—features motorized trap covers, located
video component.
of originality, and the motorcycle’s influence on popular
Architect: of the large gallery is breached by a 210-foot by 30-foot trench, is one of the world’s preeminent architects and is the designer available for $45 softcover and $65 hardcover.
on the roof, which can either filter out all natural light or be
culture, including cinema, fashion, and lifestyle. catalogue
fully open to the sky. In a gesture to the Las Vegas aesthetic,
The exhibition installation is designed by Frank o. Gehry. Gehry
authors include Hunter S. Thompson, dennis Hopper,
Koolhaas has covered the underside of the skylight with a
melissa Pierson, charles Falco, Art Simon, and others. It
large-scale facsimile of the central scene from Michelangelo’s
of the highly acclaimed Guggenheim museum Bilbao. He
has been published in english, Spanish, and German. It is
sistine Chapel ceiling. A media wall that is 60-feet-high and
120-feet-wide comprises the northern wall of the main gallery.
designed the installation of the exhibition when it was
The Art of the Motorcycle, which was first presented at the
solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 1998. With more than 120
motorcycles on display, the exhibition chronicles the most
compelling moments in motorcycle design and technology. The
exhibition explores the motorcycle as a quintessential symbol
of the Modern age. The installation, designed by architect
Guggenheim Las Vegas and to the materials of the motorcycles
frank Gehry, responds both to the scale of Koolhaas’s
themselves. Gehry’s building-within-a-building features
enormous, curved polished stainless steel walls, towering
chain-link curtains, glass floors and partitions, large-scale
graphics, and a sophisticated interpretation of the curators’
Opening Exhibition: The inaugural exhibition of the Guggenheim Las Vegas is
This exhibition is made possible by BMW Motorcycles and
Robert Goldstein, President, The Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino
proudly sponsored by Delta Air Lines.
sponsor: narrative. Thomas Krens, Director, solomon R. Guggenheim foundation
Project Leadership:

WORLD of ART 17