Opening Calder Now
Nov. 18, 2021
This Sunday, Kunsthal Rotterdam will proudly present ‘Calder Now’, an impressive exhibition that explores for the first time in Europe the modern master’s enduring and unmistakable influence on contemporary art. ‘Calder Now’ presents twenty sculptures by Alexander Calder, alongside works by ten prominent contemporary artists: Olafur Eliasson, Žilvinas Kempinas, Simone Leigh, Ernesto Neto, Carsten Nicolai, Roman Signer, Aki Sasamoto, Monika Sosnowska, Sarah Sze, and Rirkrit Tiravanija.
Enigmatic, gravity-defying installations, sculptures that induce extraordinary optical experiences, and art that appeals to all the senses reveal new connections with Calder and bring into focus the countless extensions of his legacy. This must-see Kunsthal production will lead the visitor through a multisensory experience. The exhibition is realised in close collaboration with guest curators Dieter Buchhart and Anna Karina Hofbauer, and the Calder Foundation. Many of the sculptures and installations will be shown in the Netherlands for the first time.
Visionary
In the exhibition, Calder’s works – a career-spanning selection that includes his iconic mobiles and stabiles – alternate with the installations and sculptures of the contemporary artists. In a fascinating interplay of visual and thematic connections, the public can discover links between the art of today and that of the modern master. The works by artists from our own era resonate with important themes in Calder’s oeuvre: light and reflection, humble materials, the senses, sound, activation, architecture, ephemera, gravity, performance, and positive and negative space. The ten international artists in ‘Calder Now’ are showing works that wouldn’t exist without the precedence of these themes in Calder’s visionary body of art.
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