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Monday, May 6, 2024

#ReadThis #Automania @MuseumModernArt

With over 700 posts at the moment, Cruising Peachy evidences our need for speed.  Car enthusiasts have a new reason to get excited: we've kicked off coverage of the Moma books and Automania is our favorite right now.  We totally missed the actual exhibit as it happened around covid, and this is of course the only way to see it now.  

A fabulous quality hardcover coffee table book, Automania makes the perfect gift for the auto enthusiast that has everything. It has a European car concentration except for the Jeep, and the graphics and photographs are the best part said our panel.  Automania sees cars as an art form and goes far beyond functional aspects, making this quite a fun read.  

We love its history as well: the Moma has had car interests since the 1950's and this chronicles that as well.  The advertising aspect also presents an aspect to design that's wonderful to examine.

Automania is Highly Recommended by Whom You Know.






Edited by Juliet Kinchin. With contributions by Paul Galloway and Andrew Gardner

Drawing on the wealth of automobile-related design, art, and architecture in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, Automania takes an in-depth look at an industrial object that changed the world. From its first appearance as a plaything for the rich in the 1890s to its establishment as a utilitarian necessity of modern life, the car has transformed the ways in which we live, work, and enjoy ourselves, inspiring countless designers and artists working in varied media. Some have viewed the automobile as the ultimate expression of technological progress, capable of bringing about widespread economic growth and positive societal change. Others have seen it as the enemy of humanistic values, leading only to rising fatalities and the proliferation of hazardous waste and pollution. But all have recognized it as central to contemporary life, design, and culture. Automania traces the rich cultural history of the car while giving pride of place to the ten vehicles in MoMA’s collection, which mark pivotal moments in the history of automotive design. 112 pp.; 100 illus.

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