Jill Magid: Awaiting Alexander Calder

Floor Three, Susan and John Hess Family Theater

Calder: Hypermobility features an expansive series of performances and events, bringing contemporary artists into dialogue with Alexander Calder as they apply their own disparate practices to his innovations. This event of the series will feature Jill Magid and an untitled standing mobile originally authored by Alexander Calder.

Between 1960 and 1965, five standing mobiles by Alexander Calder were picked up from the artist’s studio in France and traveled to his dealers: one to Perls Galleries in New York, and four to Galerie Maeght in Paris. According to the Calder Foundation, in both cases, the top of each standing mobile was mismatched with the base of another of the sculptures it had departed with.

The rotation of these elements mobilized the individual works into a single standing mobile, contingent upon the arrangement of its parts. The sculpture entered the market in various forms at different times, and several new titles and dates were ascribed to it during the artist’s lifetime. Currently untitled and undated, the standing mobile was purchased by the Calder Foundation at auction this year at a discounted price, reflecting its transitory nature. It is the intention of the Foundation to reunite the top with its original base in the future. Until that time arrives, the sculpture has been placed in Magid’s long term care.

Magid will activate the standing mobile by passing through its transitory states, setting the work into motion beyond Calder’s intention. 

Thursday, September 28
1 pm, 2 pm, 3 pm, 4 pm, 5 pm

This event is free with Museum admission but requires a free timed ticket, available at the admissions desk on Floor One.