Saturday, June 23, 2018

Welcoming Summer in Somerset

I had been looking forward to our outing to the Alexander Calder exhibition at Hauser + Wirth Somerset, and the day we had picked was glorious.  The road there is a main holiday route, but luck was with us and somehow had removed most of the traffic.  Glorious weather and no traffic - and a splendid exhibition of work by a favourite artist.  
The exhibition includes many pieces we had not seen before, including household objects and body adornments (see the film on the H+W website.)  There are paintings too, and a couple of painted wood sculptures.
I find Calder's work appeals directly to my emotions first before the brain has had time to engage.  I find it fascinating to discover which artists' work starts with the emotions and goes on to intrigue the intellect, and vice versa.  If both are not engaged, then largely I am not engaged for long.  With Calder the first reaction is joy, delight, ... and then intrigue about the engineering.
The exhibition is both outdoors:
and indoors:
Many of the mobiles are too fragile to be allowed to move much.  This was slightly disappointing as their full life force depends on being able to respond to the faintest passing air.  But Calder's exquisite delicacy of touch, his multi-aspect vision, the humour, the elegance were everywhere to be appreciated.  The lovely multiple shadows cast almost made up for their fragile pause.
Our outing was rounded off with a stroll round the gardens.
I'm afraid that my snaps don't do any of it justice.

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