"A mobile is an abstract sculpture made chiefly out of sheet metal, steel rods, wire, and wood. Some or all of these elements move, propelled by electric motors, wind, water or by hand…When everything goes right a mobile is a piece of poetry that dances with the joy of life and surprise."
-Alexander Calder
Gagosian Gallery is pleased to present a seminal range of hanging and standing mobile sculptures by Alexander Calder. The exhibition will span the second chapter of the artist's career and his fascination with sculpture in motion.
The works on view will include important examples of standing and hanging mobiles, inspired by man and nature alike, sight and sound, reality and fantasy. Flocons de neige (1970) representing a quiet snow flurry, or Blue Crescent and Gong (1953) making reference to primitive man-made musical instruments; or perhaps there is no meaning at all as Jean-Paul Sartre suggested, "They have too many possibilities and are too complex for the human mind, even their creator's, to predict their combinations. Calder established a general destiny of motion for each mobile, then he leaves it on its own." ("Existentialist on Mobilist", ARTnews, Dec 1947)
In addition to the standing and hanging mobiles, a Crag piece, Crag with red heart (1974) and Calder's Fish (1952), will also be on view. The exhibition presents a variety of Calder's mobile formulas, each piece composed of an eclectic range of materials such as sheet metal, rods, wire and wood, pieces of glass and porcelain, string and other found objects.
Whether seen up close or at a distance, Alexander Calder's art seems to possess both a touch of magic and witchcraft, never precisely still, never exactly the same.