Mobiles hanging from the vaulted ceilings in Calder Gardens’ sleek underground gallery sway like silent wind chimes. Grounded stabiles, centerpieces in Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron’s minimalistic pavilion, seem whimsical and playful, like new swing sets in city playgrounds.
But don’t be fooled. Alexander Calder’s work is complex in both idea and form. His inspirations were as varied as they were intense, as evidenced by the backstories of the artwork in the garden’s rotating gallery.
‘Black Widow’ (1948)
Hanging from the Tall Gallery’s high ceilings, Black Widow peeps out to visitors as they descend the stairs. The 11-foot-tall metal sculpture is twisted to evoke a musical score, seemingly a classical one — like Bach or Beethoven. Calder installed Black Widow in 1948 at the Instituto de Arquitetos do Brasil in Sao Paulo. This is the first time the piece is being shown in the United States.
‘Myxomatose’ (1953)
At first glance Myoxmatose could seem like a life-size diorama of the solar system with its bright, orange metal sun partially orbited by dinner plate-sized white planets, and black dots for stars: a pleasant reminder of childhood school projects. The large scale standing mobile is far from that. Created in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France, the piece is meant to look like a sick rabbit with its ears turned down. Myxomatose takes its name from myxomatosis, a disease that kills rabbits in Europe.
‘Jerusalem Stabile II’ (1976)
In 1976, Alexander Calder created three large red steel stabiles in honor of the Israeli city. He built the first, largest one, after his visit to Israel in 1975 honoring a request from Teddy Kollek, then mayor of Jerusalem. It stands in Jerusalem’s Holland Square. The one in Calder Gardens, a gift from the foundation of Philadelphia philanthropist and art collector Philip Berman, comes by way of New York’s Storm King Art Center. The third, the smallest, is owned by the University of Pennsylvania.
‘Untitled’ (1943)
During World War II, sheet metal was in short supply. In solidarity with war efforts, Calder made elaborate wood carvings. Many of them were meant to hang high on walls, making it easy for New York aristocrats to hang them above expensive oil paintings. Late director of the Guggenheim Museum James Johnson Sweeney and French artist Marcel Duchamp proposed Calder name the works — that looked like futuristic antennae — “constellations.” Two of these were acquired by the estate architect Wallace Harrison, Calder’s longtime friend, and are a permanent part of the estate’s private collection. This exhibition is their first public debut.
‘Tentacles’ (1947)
A glowing tangle of sheet metal and wire held together by a black center stops visitors as they descend into the gallery space, giving the tiny nook big firefly energy. At the black center is a gong. When gently tapped, it emits a sweet, yet piercing sound. Tentacles sits behind a closed glass window, so visitors aren’t able to touch it. But onlookers, who happen to pass by when the stroker collides with the metal, are treated to the pleasant ring. Tentacles premiered in one of Calder’s many solo exhibitions in 1947 at Curt Valentin’s Buchholz Gallery in New York.
“The Magic of Calder Gardens” is produced with support from Lisa D. Kabnick and John H. McFadden. Editorial content is created independently of the project’s donors.
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