Compulsion and rage
A new exhibition in Manhattan shines a light on the conflicted feelings — compulsion, fixation, desire, and rage — that developed in response to cars and car culture in the 20th century.
Installation view of Automania, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, July 4, 2021 – January 2, 2022. © 2021 The Museum of Modern Art. Photo: Robert Gerhardt.
Automania — on show at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) until January 2022 — explores the ways in which motor vehicles reshaped how people lived, worked, and enjoyed themselves over the course of the 20th century. The wide range of works highlights the continuing positive and negative imprint of cars on the design and organisation of today’s built environment.
“Cars have re-imagined mobility, connecting us across great distances at ever greater speed, but this increased freedom and economic empowerment have come at the expense of tremendous human suffering and environmental damage,” says Juliet Kinchin, former Curator in MoMA's Department of Architecture and Design.
“Throughout the 20th century, the car has inspired innumerable examples of innovation, social transformation and critical debate among designers, architects, artists, filmmakers and photographers.”
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. The Automobile Driver (L’Automobiliste). 1898. Lithograph, composition: 14 3/4 x 10 1/2″ (37.4 x 26.6 cm); sheet: 19 3/4 x 14″ (50.1 x 35.5 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller.
Vern Blosum. Time Expired. 1962. Oil on canvas, 37 1/2 x 27 7/8″ (95.1 x 70.7 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Larry Aldrich Foundation Fund. © Vern Blosum. Courtesy of the Vern Blosum Estate.
Andy Warhol. Orange Car Crash Fourteen Times. 1963. Silkscreen ink on synthetic polymer paint on two canvases, 8′ 9 7/8″ x 13′ 8 1/8″ (268.9 x 416.9 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Philip Johnson. © 2019 Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Margaret Bourke-White. Chrysler Corporation. 1932. Gelatin silver print, 12 7/8 x 9″ (32.7 x 22.8 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of the artist. © 2019 Estate of Margaret Bourke-White/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY.
Jorge Rigamonti. Nuclear City. 1967. Cut and pasted lithograph, 13 1/2 x 10 1/4″ (34.3 x 26 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Latin American and Caribbean Fund. © 2020 Arch. Jorge Rigamonti.
Halas and Batchelor. Film still from Automania 2000. 1963. 35mm film transferred to video, 10 min. Directed by John Halas. Written by Joy Batchelor. Animated by Harold Whitaker. Art directed by Tom Bailey. Composed by Jack King. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. © 1963 Halas and Batchelor.
Installation view of Automania, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, July 4, 2021 – January 2, 2022. © 2021 The Museum of Modern Art. Photo: Robert Gerhardt.
Installation view of Automania, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, July 4, 2021 – January 2, 2022. © 2021 The Museum of Modern Art. Photo: Robert Gerhardt.
Sponsored by Allianz, MoMA’s partner for design and innovation, Automania presents car-themed architectural renderings, films, photographs, drawings, paintings, posters, and sculptures — works that explore automobiles as physical extensions of the human body, technological marvels and expressions of identity.