The Complicated Legacy of the Automobile, at MOMA

The show “Automania,” opening on July 4, considers the emblem of freedom, whose fossil-fuel emissions are a major cause of global warming.
A green Volkswagen bug is wheeled out into a showroom by four people.
Photograph by Evan Angelastro for The New Yorker

On July 4, moma opens “Automania,” a show about the complicated legacy of the automobile, an emblem of freedom—of speed, escape, joyriding, and the open road—whose fossil-fuel emissions are a major cause of global warming. On the third floor, visitors encounter models, movies, car parts, posters, and works of art. Real vehicles are on view, too, in the exhibition proper, in the lobby, and in the sculpture garden, including a recently restored 1959 Volkswagen Type 1 sedan (pictured), better known as the Beetle.