Everything about it is cool. The baby blue Porsche 917, the Chevrolet Camaro, the overalls with their blue, red and yellow stripes, the guys in button-down shirts - with moustaches, full hair, the sun on their faces. Women with thick eyeliner and flared pants, girls in crocheted bikinis at the finish line, flower garlands for the winner. Motorsport in the 60s, 70s and 80s created its own world of images that, from today's perspective, evoke longing.
Not just the nostalgia for beautiful old cars, but the much broader longing for the time when the big car races still took place on normal roads. When ambitious tinkerers developed their racing machines in workshops in the village, where the international Grand Prix stars were close enough to touch. Gilles Villeneuve brushes a strand of hair behind his ear, Pedro Rodriguez rests on a small stone wall, Jo Siffert stands around in white jeans and cowboy boots, Ayrton Senna is lost in thought. The cars race through Monaco, Le Mans and over the hills of Palermo.
In his youth, motor racing was archaic, wild and deadly. The photographs in the"VROOOOAAAMMM" exhibition at the Museum im Bellpark from August 22 to November 8, 2015 tell the story. Many of the pictures were taken by amateur photographers who share their fascination for fast cars with us with their impressive and soon intimate shots. Swiss filmmaker and collector Thomas Horat has tracked down, labeled and archived these images over many years and is now presenting them for the first time in the exhibition. At the same time, the illustrated book"Gasoline and Magic" with texts by Anthony Carter and Max Küng will be published by Patrick Frey.
More information about the exhibition "VROOOOAAAMMM" and the illustrated book "Gasoline and Magic" can be found on the respective websites.
