Contemporary art: 70 bicycles from past 2 centuries on display

MUNICH (DPA) : A museum in Munich is displaying 70 of the most stand-out bicycle designs from the past two centuries as part of a contemporary art exhibition.

From the usual diamond frame to increasingly elegant, innovative and bizarre designs such as a floating crescent-shaped model, the Pinakothek der Moderne museum, one of the world’s largest of its kind, has opened an exhibition of more than 70 bicycles, no two of which are alike.

Under the same roof as works by Dali, Kandinsky and Picasso, “The Bicycle – Cult Object – Design Object” in the Pinakothek’s Neue Sammlung-Design Museum tells the design story of bikes from 1817 up to an e-bike that has not even gone on sale yet.

What’s interesting is that the curators of the exhibition, to run for almost two years from November onward, are not concerned with the cultural history of bicycles.

Instead, viewers see how the design of bicycles is closely linked to the history of technical innovations like drivetrains, suspensions and brakes. It becomes clear how much a bike’s design is influenced by new manufacturing possibilities and materials.

We see designs made of steel and aluminum, wood, magnesium, carbon, titanium and even recycled plastic processed in a 3D printer.

“It is difficult to distinguish what is technology, what is design – it all blends together,” said curator Josef Strasser ahead of the show’s opening on Nov. 11.

The exhibition will be open to the public until the end of September 2024.