Hanging Mobile work from the Sheldon's collection

You know, sometimes ‘modern’ makes me gag.  I get fed up to here with trashy Mondrian rip-off junk and vague amalgamations of style, worked up in plywood and stainless steel.  Don’t get me wrong - I like to think Gropius and I would have been fast friends, and I appreciate what places like Target and Ikea have done, in terms of bringing contemporary designers into the realm of affordability for average folks.  I really do.  But you know how things can get watered down to the point that it seems like even the essence of the original is just completely absent?

When I heard that there was an Alexander Calder exhibit opening at the Sheldon Museum, I was a little…oh…meh about it.  I had a case of “big whoop, what’s another mobile?” - I see cheap versions everywhere, all the time.  Fortunately, looking at the Sheldon site for the show dates and checking out images of the stabiles that are here on loan reminded me just how incredible his own work is, and got me looking forward to seeing it in person this weekend.  The absolute originality and wonderful personality that his pieces have vanquished any ambiguity about how different the headwaters are from the tributaries.

Little Calder anecdote to insert here: I remember walking around downtown Chicago, a fresh transplant out for a job interview, feeling so sassy about being in a place with public art by the likes of Calder and Picasso - the sheer size of those huge steel things sitting out on the plazas made me a little giddy.  Then I tried to get into my train station only to find out a bomb threat had shut a whole chunk of the line down.  It was late September, 2001, and my euphoria vanished as I walked in the gathering darkness, mile after mile, to find an open station.  In dress heels.  I may have made up a few new curse words in my blistered delirium that night.

The Sheldon has had an extremely difficult time getting the work in the collection(s) out for viewing, thanks to the small galleries, so I was pleased to hear that they’re still working on getting the Haymarket location opened up.  Do you know I lived here nearly 20 years before I knew that they had a Rothko?  Not to mention the Motherwell, de Kooning, Thiebaud, Brancusi, Diebenkorn - hell, there’s a Man Ray over there.  Did you know that?  I didn’t know that.  I’m also guilty of forgetting just how graceful the building is until I walk into the Great Hall and take it all in again.  Actually, I think I kind of like the fact that I’m not there so often as to become immune to its charms.  It’s a little like catching sight of your lover across the room before they see you.