Celebrities ogle artsy motorcycles; Guggenheim display opens to public on Sunday

Friday, Oct. 5, 2001 | 9:48 a.m.

Musician Lyle Lovett considers himself a motorcycle enthusiast rather than a collector, but that doesn't mean he can't appreciate the bikes as art.

"Motorcycles can be enjoyed on so many different levels, from the physical to the aesthetic," Lovett said Thursday as he wandered through the "Art of the Motorcycle" display at the new Guggenheim at the Venetian. "It's amazing to see so many beautiful bikes in one place."

Lovett was one of many celebrities who attended a sneak preview of the show, which features bikes from 1868 to the present.

Lovett said he prefers motorcycles from the 1960s and 1970s; they remind him of road trips he took with his parents while growing up.

"When you hear people talk about motorcycles, the word you hear over and over again is freedom," Lovett said as he admired a BMW racing bike. "There's something about being in control of this machine; it's a physical sensation you can't get anywhere else."

Also in attendance Thursday were Dennis Hopper, Jeremy Irons and Lauren Hutton, who rode into town from Oxnard, Calif., with Guggenheim Foundation Director Thomas Krens. The Guggenheim Motorcycle Club's 48-hour, 600-mile trip was "an absolutely sublime experience," Krens said.

Hutton was seriously injured a year ago near Lake Mead when she crashed her motorcycle during a 100-mile ride to kick off the Hermitage-Guggenheim in Las Vegas. Her recovery and return to the Guggenheim Motorcycle Club was hailed Thursday by both Venetian resort and museum officials.

"She is our luck," said Dr. Miriam Adelson, wife of Las Vegas Sands Inc. chairman Sheldon Adelson, who owns the Venetian. "I can't tell you how happy we are that she is here with us today."

Some of the famous faces came for a closer look at the 63,700-square-foot exhibition hall, designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, and the motorcycle exhibit design by Frank Gehry.

"The chance to see (Koolhaas' and Gehry's work) in the same place was too good to pass up," said style mogul Vidal Sassoon, who admitted he prefers watching people on motorcycles to actually riding them. "It's just phenomenal what they've accomplished."

Sassoon's wife, Ronnie, said she and her husband have been fans of Gehry since the 1960s. Gehry's designs, which include the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain, usually house the art, Ronnie Sassoon said.

"To come to a museum and see Frank's ideas on the inside is an interesting reversal of roles," she said.

"The Art of the Motorcycle" opens to the public Sunday at the Guggenheim Las Vegas. General admission is $15. For more information call 414-2440.