Pioneering artist Calder featured in latest show at Acquavella Galleries in Palm Beach

Kristina Webb, Palm Beach Daily News
·2 min read
"Untitled" (1963) by Alexander Calder is among the pieces that are part of the exhibition "Calder: Composing Motion" through March 30 at Acquavella Galleries in Palm Beach.
"Untitled" (1963) by Alexander Calder is among the pieces that are part of the exhibition "Calder: Composing Motion" through March 30 at Acquavella Galleries in Palm Beach.
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Work from pioneering American artist Alexander Calder is the focus of the latest exhibition at Acquavella Galleries in Palm Beach.

"Calder: Composing Motion," at the gallery through March 30, includes several pieces by the artist known for his innovative use of kinetic movement in mobiles.

The exhibition showcases Calder's range, with mobiles, stabiles and works on paper primarily from the second half of Calder's career featured, the gallery said in a news release.

Calling Calder, who died in 1976, a disruptor, the gallery said he pioneered a new type of art with his mobiles, which are abstract kinetic sculptures.

"'Composing Motion' explores how movement remained central to Calder's oeuvre throughout his career not only in his kinetic sculptures, but also in his stabiles, or stationary objects, and his paintings," the gallery said in the news release.

Alexander Calder's "Le Petit croissant" is among the American artist's pieces that are part of the exhibition "Calder: Composing Motion" now through March 30 at Acquavella Galleries in Palm Beach.
Alexander Calder's "Le Petit croissant" is among the American artist's pieces that are part of the exhibition "Calder: Composing Motion" now through March 30 at Acquavella Galleries in Palm Beach.

One of Calder's noted mobiles, "Le Petit croissant," is included in Acquavella's show. The piece is 4 and a half feet wide, hangs from the ceiling and is made from red- and black-painted sheet metal and wire.

"The work exemplifies how Calder's artistic language is articulated, both in stillness and in flux," the gallery said in the news release.

"Composing Motion" includes 15 of Calder's works on paper, which draw on the suggestion of movement to imply motion. In one untitled piece from 1963, colorful orbs seem to swirl around each other, mimicking the energy of Calder's kinetic sculptures, the gallery said.

The exhibition's title comes from a 1933 Calder quote: "Just as one can compose colors, or forms, so one can compose motions."

If you go

What: "Calder: Composing Motion"

Where: Acquavella Galleries, 340 Royal Poinciana Way, Suite M309, Palm Beach

When: Through March 30; gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday

Information: acquavellagalleries.com, 561-283-3415

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Alexander Calder latest artist featured at Acquavella in Palm Beach