ALEXANDER CALDER Art at SFMOMA: Mobiles, Stabiles and More

Fish Bowl by Alexander Calder at SFMOMA

Making a mobile is not only an exercise in creating visual balance, but actual physical balance of the various elements. The all-time master of the mobile is Alexander Calder. At the San Francisco Museum of Art a large room is dedicated to his work.
I hadn’t been to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art since it was remodeled and expanded several years ago. I went recently to see the spectacular retrospective exhibit Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again (which ended September 2nd) but on my way to the Warhol exhibit I was side tracked in the large room where works of Alexander Calder were displayed.

Mobiles by Alexander Calder

Large mobiles hung from the ceiling, their colorful flat shapes seeming to float in mid-air as the wires slowly rotated. Outside on the rooftop patio were a number of Calder’s large stabiles, lurking like large beasts enjoying the sun. But my favorite was a small piece–a wire fish bowl, complete with a snail and its spiral shell inching up the side of the bowl. It was like a 3-D drawing, using black wire instead of a pencil.
I once made a mobile in one of my art classes in college, using  found materials (tiny blocks of wood and other scraps I found at a construction site.) I discovered that it is not so easy to achieve the exact perfect balance  when hanging the various wires! Which makes me admire the beauty and execution of Calder’s work even more.

Entrance to SFMOMA