NOT TO BE MISSED IF YOU'RE IN SOUTH FLORIDA! - AT THE CORAL GABLES MUSEUM!!!
The Vespa scooter. Few objects represent Italy with such immediacy, communicating both the boom in industrial production that would lift a generation of Italians out of post-war poverty, while also representing a romantic dream of the country to an American audience captured by Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck’s characters in the film Roman Holiday (1953). Translated as “wasp” in Italian for its distinctive shape and sound, the Vespa has retained its popularity as both a practical mode of transportation and an object that has inspired and influenced successive generations of both Italian and American consumers and tastemakers.
Throughout the twentieth century, Italian design and the phrase “Made in Italy” developed a particular kind of significance – that of quality, sophistication and above all, elegance – which continues to resonate today. The exhibition Italy in Motion, curated by Chloe Chelz, focuses on design and mobility, employing the overlapping themes of Style, Velocity and Identity. As objects of material culture, cars, motorcycles, scooters and bicycles as well as historical and contemporary photographs illustrate how the country’s design legacies have transcended function to become defining symbols of both industry and imagination.
The Vespa scooter. Few objects represent Italy with such immediacy, communicating both the boom in industrial production that would lift a generation of Italians out of post-war poverty, while also representing a romantic dream of the country to an American audience captured by Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck’s characters in the film Roman Holiday (1953). Translated as “wasp” in Italian for its distinctive shape and sound, the Vespa has retained its popularity as both a practical mode of transportation and an object that has inspired and influenced successive generations of both Italian and American consumers and tastemakers.
Throughout the twentieth century, Italian design and the phrase “Made in Italy” developed a particular kind of significance – that of quality, sophistication and above all, elegance – which
continues to resonate today. The exhibition Italy in Motion, curated by Chloe Chelz, focuses on design and mobility, employing the overlapping themes of Style, Velocity and Identity. As objects of material culture, cars, motorcycles, scooters and bicycles as well as historical and contemporary photographs illustrate how the country’s design legacies have transcended function to become defining symbols of both industry and imagination.
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