LONDON.- Following the success of Calder After the War, presented at 6 Burlington Gardens,
Pace presents Calder at the Castle, the first-ever outdoor exhibition of monumental works by the artist in the UK. The exhibition is on view at Sudeley Castle from 24 June to 26 October 2013. Calder at the Castle features six monumental sculptures installed throughout the castles gardens, and is made possible with the collaboration of the Calder Foundation, New York.
From 1950 to 1970, Calders oeuvre took on a monumental dimension as his focus diverted to the creation of large-scale sculptures. Meanwhile, the post-war economic boom inspired corporations and government agencies around the world to commission large-scale works. Calders already established international success made him one of the most soughtafter artists for such projects, presenting abstract yet modern site-specific works.
This exhibition, curated to interact with Sudeley Castles grounds, includes the elegant standing mobile 3 flèches blanches (1965), first presented to the public during Calders major retrospective at the Palazzo a Vela, Turin, in 1983. Featuring black and white elements, the work is a structure of delicacy, balance, and movement.
Trépied rouge et noir (1972) features a combination of lines and planes. Balance is obtained through sheets of metal that form a tripod and render the sculpture static, while the one-dimensional lines of the wire interact to produce movement. The stout base and the subtle movements of the floating coloured-shapes hanging from above demonstrate Calders imagination and sense of harmony.
Over nine feet tall and made of sheet metal, the red, blue, and black stabile Le Chien en trois couleurs (1973), which was most recently on display at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, stands on three impressive legs. The sharp angles and planes of metal pronounce themselves fully in the air and conjure the abstract form of a proud little dog. Other highlights include 4 Planes in Space (c. 1955).
Brontosaurus (1970) is an example of an abstract form whose name lends a figurative interpretation, while Calders whimsical humour is evident in Untitled (Giant Critter) (1976) as the surrealistic figure painted in red holds out its arms and gives the impression of struggling to find its balance on two legs and what appears to be a large tail.
It is only in recent decades that outdoor exhibitions dedicated solely to Calders monumental works have been presented. A few of them include Alexander Calder in New York (Organised by Public Art Fund at City Hall Park, 20062007); Calders on the Parkway (Organised by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 20042006); Grand Intuitions: Calders Monumental Sculpture (Storm King, Mountainville, NY, 2003); Alexander Calder: Five Grand Stabiles (Storm King, Mountainville, NY, 19881998); and, outside of the US, Les Monuments de Calder, 1992 at La Défense et Galerie Art 4, Paris, which then travelled to Kunst-und Ausstellungshalle, Bonn.