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Back to Design and Architecture

Design and Architecture

Alexander Calder at LACMA

Most people know Alexander Calder as the inventor of the mobile, a kinetic sculpture that hangs in space. But like his friend Georgia O'Keeffe, he is a familiar and beloved figure to such an extent that it obscures the fundamentally radical impulse of his art.

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By Frances Anderton • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

Most people know Alexander Calder as the inventor of the mobile, a kinetic sculpture that hangs in space. But like his friend Georgia O'Keeffe, he is a familiar and beloved figure to such an extent that it obscures the fundamentally radical impulse of his art. LACMA's senior curator, Stephanie Barron, recognized this dilemma around the perception of his work and acknowledged it in the title of her show, Calder and Abstraction: From Avant Garde to Iconic.

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Frances Anderton

    architecture critic and author

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Frances Anderton

    architecture critic and author

  • KCRW placeholder

    Caroline Chamberlain

    KUOW

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Lisa Napoli

    KCRW arts reporter and producer

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Hunter Drohojowska-Philp

    Contributor, 'Art Talk'

    Culture
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