Cars: Accelerating the Modern World was on in the Sainsbury Gallery near the Tunnel Entrance to the Museum. It is on until 19 April 2020. The exhibition looks back at how the car has affected the modern world during the 20th Century. It displays examples from technology, industry and design and fashion. It also looks at how cars have changed the landscape and impacted on the environment.
Having experienced BMW Welt in Munich a few years ago I was quite excited to see this exhibition. I love seeing how the car has evolved over the years and there were some real highlights to this exhibition. There were quite a few early models such as the Model T Ford and some early racing cars. The exhibition focused on how the futuristic has always been on the mind of designers from the turn of the century. The first section looks at how it was thought that cars of the future would be able to fly. There were a lot of conceptual art from The Fifth Element film based on 1930s drawings.
An aspect of this exhibition that I really liked was that they had chosen to use crash test dummies to model the clothes from different eras. Another really interesting point was a model of a reclining male called Graham. Graham is a human that has been designed to withstand car crashes. His flat face will absorb the impact, his large skull has extra fluid to protect the brain, and the numerous nipples on his chest will act as a built in airbag. He was created by the Australian Transport Accident Commission by artist Patricia Piccinini in 2016.
The car that stood out the most for me was an Impala Lowrider which was costumed by Tomas Vazquez, a member of a lowrider community called the Imperials. This car is dedicated to all of the Imperial members that have passed away.
As well as cars and fashion the exhibition touched on sustainability and the impact the car has had on fossil fuels. It talked about the by products of the oil and petroleum industries such as polyester. There were screens around the exhibition highlighting facts such as the 'Number of barrels of oil left in the world'.
The last part of the exhibition looks at how we are approaching cars for the future. On display is the Pop.Up Next concept car from Audi which is an electric, autonomous car that can fly which can be booked from a smartphone app. This takes the exhibition full circle, showing us that we still hold on to the ideas of the 1930s that the future should be flight.
I really enjoyed this exhibition, it was very bright and airy with an easy to navigate layout. There was something for everyone within the exhibition. I think if cars are not your thing then still give it a visit as there will be something to admire. It is quite pricey at £18 a ticket but under 11's go free so if you have small children they will love it! It is cheaper for concessions and Art Fund card holders. I would say it is quite a small exhibition but the free collections at the V&A are massive so there would always be more to look at if you were making a special trip. Plus the V&A is right next to the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum which are both free admission.
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