“Four wheels move the body; two wheels move the soul.” It’s a sentence that encapsulates the significance of the motorcycle not just as a mean of personal transport, but as a ‘state of existence’ and a symbol of both freedom and adventure. Easy Rider – The Myth of Motorbikes as Art, which runs until 24 February 2019 in the old lemon house of the Palace of Venaria Reale just outside Turin, comprises a series of different sections that, cumulatively, explore the aesthetic, social, and cultural stories of the motorcycle from its early 20th Century beginnings. These include ‘The motorbike and Italy’, ‘African trails and the Paris-Dakar myth’, and ‘Japan and Technology’. For lovers of all things two-wheeled, this exhibition is sure to strike a note as strong as the soundtrack to Easy Rider.
Photos: La Venaria Reale