Calder’s Art in Motion

The Nasher Museum of Art in Durham’s Alexander Calder and Contemporary Art: Form, Balance, Joy features 34 Calder masterworks alongside the work of seven contemporary artists who were influenced by Calder’s legacy as a modern sculptor, Thursday, Feb. 16, though Sunday, June 17. A member of the Paris avant-garde in the 1920s and 1930s, Calder was a prolific artist who invented the “mobile,” a word coined by the French artist Marcel Duchamp.

“He was the first artist to think about the fact that sculpture could be in motion, and that the motion could be created by air, wind and circulation rather than a motor,” says Sarah Schroth, Nancy Hanks Senior Curator, Nasher Museum of Art. “It was a radical idea in its day, but now it’s something we use over every baby crib.” Although the form has become ubiquitous, Schroth considers this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see so many Calders from throughout his career together in one place.

Originally trained as an engineer, it’s Calder’s sense of balance and mechanics, not just aesthetics and composition, that makes him interesting to contemporary artists, Schroth says. In fact, several Durham artists, including sculptor Jeff Bell and visual artists Warren Hicks and Harrison Hayes offered to assist with the installation — a job requiring many hands — because of their interest in Calder’s technical sophistication. The exhibition also features Calder’s “stabiles,” or mobiles that don’t move, along with creative re-uses of scrap metal and other found objects that might feel familiar to fans of Vollis Simpson’s work.

“It truly is a happy show,” Schroth says. “Calder never lost his playfulness. We hope people will come away with a feeling of joy, realizing that all art is not heavy and conceptual, but that it can be ingenious, inventive and elegant.” For more information, visit http://www.nasher.duke.edu/.