Taking visitors along an open road of 92 motorcycles, HBG’s exhibit designers created an artful, unobtrusive backdrop to enhance the evolutionary story of these legends on wheels. As a touring motorcycle exhibition licensed by the Guggenheim Museum, the firm’s exhibit designs for the Memphis show and its next stop at the Orlando Museum of Art capture the spirit of previous shows with a distinction all their own. To engage the senses of Art of the Motorcycle visitors, designers worked closely to develop a hierarchy between dynamic design elements, producing a sensation of continuous movement through the exhibit using static elements to symbolize the journey of the motorcycle from its invention in 1865 to the present.
Curvilinear and undulating still forms of walls, floor plane, gallery dividers, and an independent contrasting red floating ‘ribbon’ interconnect to portray boundless fluid motion of both the physical motorcycle and of movement through time. A running timeline chronicles the most compelling moments in motorcycle design and places these developments in a cultural context by each of eight defining eras, exploring the motorcycle’s elusive reputation through the years from its humble industrial beginnings to its portrayal as a symbol of reckless danger, sex, beauty, speed, independence and freedom.
Photography by Rick Bostick
LocationMemphis, Tennessee and Orlando, FloridaTotal Size36,000 SFTotal Cost$1 MillionClientWonders: The Memphis International Cultural Series