Typographie | MACA - Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Alicante

Alexander Calder

Typography

1972

Technical data

Authorship:

Alexander Calder

Title:

Typography

Date:

1972

Dimensions:

125 x 95 cm

Collection it belongs to:

Collection 20th Century Art

Inventory no.:

XX.023

Photographs

Artwork text

Typographie is a mobile made of sheet metal and wire created by Alexander Calder in 1972 and acquired by Eusebio Sempere from the Theo Gallery in Madrid in 1976, one of the most important acquisitions of the collection.

The mobile consists of a series of painted sheet metal discs in red, black and white, of different sizes, suspended by curved wires in a branched system of levers and counterweights that descends from a single suspension point. On the left, a large white disc acts as a counterweight to the more complex structure that unfolds to the right in several levels. A minimal gust of air is enough to trigger a movement that propagates throughout the structure, generating always different configurations. The technique is elementary and artisanal: Calder cut, filed and painted the sheet metal with hand tools, assembling the pieces from smallest to largest in an ascending scale of weights. "I start with the smallest and work my way up," the artist himself explained.

Calder was the one who elevated the mobile to the category of artistic work, starting in 1932, introducing real movement into sculpture even before kinetic artists made it an aesthetic program. Close to surrealist circles and the imaginary of Miró, Arp or Klee, he was the only non-Spanish artist who participated in the Spanish Republic Pavilion at the 1937 Paris International Exposition. Sempere considered him one of the unavoidable references of the international avant-garde and a direct influence on kinetic art to which he himself belonged.

Exhibitions

- "Calder", Palma de Mallorca, Sala Pelaires, September-October 1972.

- "Calder: Recent Mobiles", Paris, Maeght Gallery, 1973.

- "With Sempere", Madrid, Banco Exterior de España, 1983.

- "Alexander Calder", Society of Friends of the Country, Málaga, 1997 / Palacete del Embarcadero, Santander, 1997-1998 / Sala de la Zapatería, Pamplona, 1997-1998 / Sala Provincia, Instituto Leonés de Cultura, 1998.

- "From the Municipal Collections. The Heritage of the City of Alicante", Municipal Exhibition Hall Lonja del Pescado, Alicante, December 2000-February 2001.

- "The Revolution of Sculpture in the 20th Century", Vitoria, Sala de la Fundación Caja Vital Kutxa, 2001.

- "From the Concrete to the Real. Sculptures from the 20th Century Art Collection", SEA, Alicante Sculpture Symposium, Polvorín Hall of Santa Bárbara Castle, 2005-2006.

- "The Dialogue of Sculpture", Madrid, Casa de Vacas Cultural Center, Caja Castilla La Mancha, from April 20 to May 21, 2006.

- "Alexander Calder", Valladolid, Museo de la Pasión, 2009.

- "Open Works. Art in Motion, 1955-1975". Barcelona, La Pedrera, from September 28, 2018 to January 27, 2019.

- "Light and Movement. The Kinetic Avant-Garde in Paris 1955-1975", Alicante, MACA, Museum of Contemporary Art of Alicante, from February 14 to May 26, 2019.

Bibliografía

- Bonet Correa, Antonio: Municipal Museum "Casa de la Asegurada", 20th Century Art Collection, Alicante, Ed. Municipal Museum "Casa de la Asegurada", 1981, ill. p. 13.

- Pastor Ibáñez, Vicenta: "The Kinetic Fact in the 20th Century Art Collection of the City of Alicante" in Materials from the Congress of Studies of the Alicante Region, Alicante, 1986, p. 55-60; ill.

- With Sempere, Banco Exterior de España, Madrid, 1983, p. 175. (in catalog and in exhibition brochure): ill.

- Alexander Calder, Málaga, Society of Friends of the Country, Sociocultural Work of Unicaja, 1997, p.35; ill.

- Alexander Calder, Santander, Government of Cantabria, Port of Santander, 1997, p.35; ill.

- Alexander Calder, Pamplona, City Council of Pamplona, 1997, p.35; ill.

- Alexander Calder, León, Provincial Council of León, Leonese Institute of Culture, 1998, p.35; ill.

- AA.VV.: 20th Century Art Collection. Museum of La Asegurada / Alicante, Alicante, City Council, 1998, p. 54.

- Castells González, Rosa Mª: "From the Concrete to the Real. Sculpture in the 20th Century Art Collection. Museum of Contemporary Art of Alicante", in SEA Alicante Sculpture Symposium. International Contemporary Sculpture Santa Bárbara Castle, vol 2, Alicante, Municipal Culture Board, 2005, p. 20-83, 73, 76, 77, 83: ill.

- Castells González, Rosa Mª (Coord): Municipal Heritage. 5 Years of Restoration in Alicante, Alicante, Municipal Culture Board, City Council of Alicante, 2002, p. 223, ill.

- Oropesa, Marisa: The Revolution of Sculpture in the 20th Century, Curated and Culture and Caja Vital Kutxa Foundation, 2001, n.p.

- Sticker Album. 20th Century Art Collection. 40th Anniversary, Alicante, Museum of Contemporary Art of Alicante, 2017, p. 6, sticker no. 9.

- Castells González, Rosa Mª: "Eusebio Sempere as Collector. The 20th Century Art Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Alicante" in Atlas Sempere Canelobre no. 69, Alicante, Alicante Institute of Culture, 2018, p. 280-291.

- "Open Works. Art in Motion, 1955-1975". (exp. cat.) Barcelona, Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera, 2018.

- "Light and Movement. The Kinetic Avant-Garde in Paris 1955-1975", (exhibition brochure) Alicante, MACA, Museum of Contemporary Art of Alicante, 2019.

Artist

Alexander Calder

Philadelphia, United States , 1898 - 1898

American sculptor of great vitality and versatility, famous for his mobiles, considered one of the most innovative and ingenious artists of the twentieth century. Calder, son and grandson of distinguished American sculptors, was born on July 22, 1898...

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Other artworks by the same artist

Conception

Alexander Calder

Collection 20th Century Art

Conception is a lithograph dated around 1968, an artist's proof from an edition of 75 copies, which Alexander Calder gave to Eusebio Sempere with a handwritten dedication at the top: "Sempere, sempre". The play on words between the Alicante artist...

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Related multimedia

"Typography" by Alexander Calder

02.12.2020

Typography by Alexander Calder. The MACA curator, Rosa Castells, explains a work from the collection in 1 minute.

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