Motion. Autos, Art, Architecture at the Guggenheim in Bilbao: more than art in motion

Many call me “El Dominicano”, although throughout my life I have had other names. But it doesn’t matter: of all, this is the one that best defines me, since I spent the first moments of my life in those lands even though I was born in New York, in 1953.

There, during the automobile fair that was held that year, I was introduced to society. People were dying to take pictures with me because it was the ultimate. There were more illustrious surnames like Ferrari or Porsche, but I entered the world stepping hard at first.

Oh yes, sorry. She forgot me. If you want to meet me, you just have to raise your eyes a little. I’m that yellow belle with red-flank wheels you have in the opening photo. My official name is Pegaso Z-102 Berlinetta Cúpula and at that time my family talked face to face with people from Modena, Detroit, and Stuttgart.

We had nothing to envy them: high-octane blue blood ran through my V8, making me one of the fastest and most elegant sports cars in the world. It was also exclusive; I am unique in my species, although for many years it was speculated that I had a twin somewhere.

That is because my life has been very intense. Let’s go back to the beginning. The Dominican. I received that nickname because my first owner was the dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo until he was assassinated in 1961. Perhaps you have read La Fiesta del Chivo, by Mario Vargas Llosa. A novel, but it pains me not to appear in its pages despite the fact that my owner was one of the protagonists.

After leaving the Dominican Republic behind, I ended up as a plaything for US soldiers on a military base. Later, an American with a lot of money and few scruples turned me into a convertible because it was hot.

At that time I was also in Mexican hands, they also painted me gray (hence some thought that I was not me) and I spent a good season out of the game until my last stop has placed me in the place I deserve: a museum . Well, actually two.

A season in Bilbao

My home as such is the Lowman Museum, very close to The Hague, where I relapsed in 2005. There they healed my wounds and left me as good as new in a process that took nine years. But although I am very comfortable with 230 other cars, I am going to spend my vacations this summer of 2022 in another spectacular place.

One with a name as famous as mine: the Guggenheim in Bilbao. It is barely 25 years old, but this building has become a global benchmark in terms of works, exhibitions… Also because of its own form. Designed by Frank Gehry, from the first moment it stopped being a mere building to dangerously brush (for many, it fully enters) the line that separates it from art.

And that is not even painted, because here they consider me that, a work of art. But I am not saying that, but rather someone who knows a thing or two about architecture, plastic forms, and also the world of the automobile: Sir Norman Foster.

Yes: that Norman Foster. Artist, architect who has won the Pritzker (the most important architecture prize), the Prince of Asturias, politician, member of the Academy of Architecture… Also a car collector and, now, one of the curators of the Motion exhibition. Cars, Art, Architecture.

Here I will not be alone. In a museum like this, that would be too simple. The director of the Guggenheim, Juan Ignacio Vidarte, assured during the presentation of the exhibition that it was “one of the most complex projects in the 25 years of the Guggenheim”.

And it is that next to me there are other 39 cars that represent different visions not only of the world of four wheels, but of art in general. That is why I am not only resting in a room next to models like the Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, but I am together with others who set the trends of the moment.

The American opulence that existed at the end of the 50s and that led to the appearance of models such as the Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz, a 5.71 m car that almost by itself filled the American room, is not the same as the European in the that the nuova 500 or the R4 were the kings and that they inhabit, together with the Beetle and some equally emblematic models, the Popularising room.

Many are amazed to meet me. Some do not know that Pegaso did more than just trucks and that I am a perfect example of the developmentalism promoted by the Franco government at that time, but the truth is that I am not the absolute protagonist of the show either.

From the beginning to the 22nd century

With my yellow color I draw attention to the room where I am staying and which is called Sculptures. They have put me next to models like the Delahaye 165, the Hispano Suiza H6B Dubonnet, the aforementioned Atlantic or the Bentley R-Type Continental. Arthur Drexler, an architect who worked at MoMa, defined us as “empty sculptures on wheels.”

Sculptures like one of the reclining figures by Henry Moore with whom we share a room. Also, from what I can tell, the Atlantic pulled a couple of strings to make room for a relative of theirs. This sports car has brought Panther on the prowl, a sculpture by Rembrandt Bugatti, Jean’s uncle.

But we are not the oldest here: there are those in the Beginnings room. The other day I took a quick walk when there were no visitors. The fact is that I found a model with two electric motors in the wheels… Nothing strange if it weren’t for the fact that I’m talking about a 1900 car made by Lohner-Porsche.

If there is nothing invented. Since Bertha Benz took a ride in 1888 in the Benz Patent-Motorwagen built by her husband Karl Benz in 1886 (just over 100 km in 12 hours), things have happened with a certain speed. The first car with a combustion engine has evolved, and in what way.

This is especially seen in the Sporting room. For my taste, it is the best of the entire sample because in a few square meters you have models such as the Mercedes 300 SL Seagull Wings, the Porsche 356 Pre-A that launched the legend of the brand, or the Ferrari 250 GTO Bizzarrini, one of the most beautiful cars in history.

I’m saying it now that you can’t hear me, because it’s a bit high: one of these doesn’t change hands for less than 50 or 60 million euros (seriously). But it is also part of the Nick Mason collection.

Does it ring a bell? One of the best drummers in history, who gave personality to the progressive rock of Pink Floyd and who has designed an immersive experience in which the sound of the engines of some cars present in the exhibition can be heard along a corridor. Quite an experience, because you hear them approaching, passing by your side and moving away as if you were on the very street.

I always like to have a good time talking with the representatives of the Visionaries area. Follies on wheels; sometimes broken toys: turbine cars, with nuclear engines, with impossible shapes; aerodynamic exercises like the Alfa Romeo BAT 7 or the indescribable Dymaxion #4.

Here rests a sculpture by Boccioni, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space. This sculptor was one of the greatest exponents of futurism, an artistic trend that looked to the future as a source of inspiration and idolized the world of machines, progress, and speed.

Without a doubt a wonderful way to summarize this show. But come see me. Remember: Motion. Cars, art, architecture. I wait for you until September 18.