Alexander Calder and Contemporary Art: Form, Balance, Joy

OCMA is proud to serve as the only West Coast venue for Alexander Calder and Contemporary Art: Form, Balance, Joy, an extensive reexamination of the modernist master whose work has inspired a new generation of contemporary artists. From monumental mobiles and stabiles to more delicate works, the exhibition presents approximately 30 sculptures by Calder and major works by seven young artists who embrace the forms and materials used by Calder.

Throughout his long career, Calder combined playful subject matter, primary colors, and organic and geometric shapes to create accessible works that are witty and buoyantly full of life. This range and resourcefulness is grounded in recurring artistic concerns, in particular the relation between form, mass, and movement. The exhibition presents a range of Calder's classic mobiles—kinetic sculptures made of balanced parts capable of motion; stabiles—self-supporting, static, abstract sculptures; and bronze sculptures.

Alexander Calder and Contemporary Art offers an opportunity to see the work of Calder anew, through the eyes of contemporary artists who explore structure and balance, in many cases creating expressive artworks. The exhibition presents a number of works by each artist.