Gerald Laing. Full speed

La Project Room of National Automobile Museum is hosting the first Italian solo exhibition dedicated to the British artist Gerald Laing (1936–2011), edited by Elena Geuna, realised in collaboration with The Estate of Gerald Laing.

A leading figure in the British Pop Art that in the 1960s was part of the extraordinary art scene in New York alongside masters of the calibre of Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein e Robert Indiana, Gerald Laing was one of the artists who best captured the complex and fascinating relationship between art, speed, technology e visual culture.

The exhibition offers a thorough and fresh reinterpretation of Laing’s artistic practice through a display featuring a wealth of visually striking works, many of which have never before been exhibited in Italy. Characterised by explosive swathes of colour and by unusual cinematic shots, the paintings and graphic works focus on emblematic subjects such as dragster, drivers e racing car. These elements demonstrate, with great expressive power, just how much the’car has been experienced and portrayed not merely as a means of transport, but as a genuine cultural icon e synonymous with progress.

An exceptional exhibition project that reintroduces the Italian public to a key figure in the art history of the second half of the 20th century, making the MAUTO by Turin an ideal place to reflect on the lively dialogue between Pop Art e motoring culture.