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Art and The Automobile | FreeWheeling
Written By: Luke Osteen | Issue: 2021/04 – April
The Bascom revs up its Main Gallery with FreeWheeling, a dynamic show celebrating all things Automotive, May 11 through August 21.
“500” – Klaus Wagger
Like a well-tuned engine, The Bascom: A Center for the Visual Arts and Highlands Motoring Festival have coordinated resources to stage FreeWheeling, the centerpiece component of Celebrate Art + Automobile, a summer series of events in Highlands.
FreeWheeling features original automotive works of internationally renowned artists.
The exhibition will be on display in the Bascom’s Main Gallery and includes works on canvas, paper, and sculpture, alongside the display of three classic and vintage automobiles. The exhibit’s cars will be changed twice during the duration of the 15-week display, so that up to nine cars in total will share gallery space with the artwork.
The exhibition presents a multi-tiered experience in the appreciation of art and the automobile. It examines design as art, the inherent duality of functional art, the allure of the automobile as art itself, and the dialogue between inspiration and expression.
Throughout the exhibition period, the Bascom will be offering a number of related displays and activities, some of which are interactive. A few examples of these include Artist/Curator Discussions, Submitted Automobile Photography Presentation, Model Car Display, and Educational S.T.E.A.M. Initiatives. Other public programming will be announced as it is developed.
On Saturday, June 12, the 14th annual Highlands Motoring Festival features Cars in the Park, a juried display of approximately 100 specially selected automobiles from around the world, representing a diversity of styles and concepts from the earliest days of the automobile through 1989.
The theme for 2021 is Pure Bloods d’Italia, featuring grand marques such as Ferrari, Maserati, and Lamborghini. Additional classics expected on the show field include Porsche, Jaguar, BMW, Alfa Romeo, Mercedes, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Packard, and others.
Other activities of the Motoring Festival include One Lap of the Mountains (two days of drives on the exciting mountain roads of Western North Carolina), evening social events, presentations and discussions by renowned automotive experts, and High Octane, a casual car show open to any interesting automobile.
