A stunning show of the famous Alexander Calder's mobile works currently on display at the Dominique Lévy Gallery has the art world talking, as it is intimate and encompassing. A small retrospective, the exhibition is a selection of nearly 50 small Calder mobiles and stabiles, a few less than two inches tall, that the American sculptor executed between the mid-1930s to around 1970. Organized in collaboration with the Calder Foundation, the exhibition is titled, Multum in Parvo, which translates loosely to “much in little.” A certainly appropriate title as the art speaks volumes in such little complex form. The show which is dedicated to Calder's small mobiles, is presented in such a way that all the intricacies of the mobiles come to light. Architect Santiago Calatrava created mirrored stands for all of the mobiles that allow for a more holistic viewing of the works. Some of the mobiles and stabiles in the exhibition are small scale models for a larger work of art.
Calder was the originator of the mobile, which is a type of kinetic sculpture made with delicately balanced or suspended components that move in response to motor power or air currents. In contrast, Calder’s stationary sculptures are called stabiles. However in each work, the fluidly between aspects of abstraction and nature is present, summoning the skills of an engineer, a painter, a sculptor and a jewelry maker. The three-dimensional pieces have become some of the most sought after works in his oeuvre, and an art form that he is very well-known and respected for.
Read more about Alexander Calder below:
- View our collection of Calder drawings
