Historical and Cultural Context - Mobiles
Leaves, No Litter

- Alexander Calder, referring to his abstract kinetic sculptures on display at the Julien Levy Gallery, New York, 1932. Excerpted from the New York World-Telegram, June 11, 1932 - http://www.sfmoma.org/espace/calder/calder_intro.html

Often constructed of colored metal pieces connected by wires or rods, the mobile has moving parts that are sensitive to a breeze or light touch; it can be designed to hang from the ceiling or stand free on the floor. Mobiles became popular in the 1950s for interior decoration. http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/ent/A0833511.html

Alexander Calder - Goldfish Bowl - 1929
Wire - Private Collection
Copyright ©2000 National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/calder/realsp/4f.htm

Alexander Calder - Steel Fish - 1934
Sheet metal, wire, rod, lead, and paint
115 x 137 x 120 in. Private Collection
© 1998 Estate of Alexander Calder/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York http://www.sfmoma.org/espace/calder/photo_lg_fish.html

Alexander Calder - Aluminum Leaves, Red Post - 1941
Sheet metal, wire, and paint
61 x 61 in.
Collection of Jean Lipman
© 1998 Estate of Alexander Calder/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
http://www.sfmoma.org/espace/calder/photo_lg_aluminum.html

Alexander Calder - S-Shaped Vine - 1946
Sheet metal, wire, and paint
98 1/2 x 69 in.
Collection of Rita and Toby Schreiber
© 1998 Estate of Alexander Calder/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
http://www.sfmoma.org/espace/calder/photo_lg_vine.html

Alexander Calder - Poisson Volant (Flying Fish) - 1957 -
Sheet metal, wire, & paint - dimensions: 24" x 89"
http://members.tripod.com/~Raincloud771/favart/calder.htm

"I make and fly kites to play with color and line in the sky. My kites play games with the light, hide and seek with the clouds. They push and pull on the wind. They challenge the birds. My hand grows longer and longer until I feel I am somehow in contact with that immensity into and out of which all things come and go. The kite itself is a reference to the human: so fragile and yet so strong. It is also a reference to constant movement, sinuous movement, the movement of dreams and childhood. A child on the street rarely walks in a straight line. It plays while it goes, in and out, around and about. That is what birds in flight do. That is what my kites do. I wish to create "sky works" however ephemeral. Kites are an instrument for this. They put line and color into the sky and sculpt the air. They play game of freedom." - Jackie Matisse

Jackie Matisse - 3 Kite Tails
http://www.raykass.com/html/Matisse/html/mat_exhibit.html

Mobiles with hanging irregular shapes
Sketches from exhibit, Art That Soars - Kites and Tails by Jackie Matisse at the
Mingei International Museum in San Diego, April 25 - November 26

Wire frame "box" with hanging pieces of nylon fabric attached to fishing line
Sketch from exhibit, Art That Soars - Kites and Tails by Jackie Matisse at the
Mingei International Museum in San Diego, April 25 - November 26

Wire frame "box" with hanging objects
Sketch from exhibit, Art That Soars - Kites and Tails by Jackie Matisse at the
Mingei International Museum in San Diego, April 25 - November 26

Wire frame "box" with rocks and hanging objects
Sketch from exhibit, Art That Soars - Kites and Tails by Jackie Matisse at the
Mingei International Museum in San Diego, April 25 - November 26

Andy Goldsworthy - Iris Leaves & Rowan Berries
http://cgee.hamline.edu/see/goldsworthy/see_an_andy.html

“What I am after, above all, is expression.”

Henri Matisse - The Clown

Key Elements

• Simplified shapes
• Flat colors
• Repeat patterns

Henri Matisse - Chinese Fish - 1951

“Finally I have found the most direct way to express myself – the paper cutout”

Henri Matisse - Icarus (shows the original French text) - 1943

Matisse's Process

• Pick a subject
• Create shapes that symbolize the elements within the subject
• Cut out shapes spontaneously
• Arrange (play with) the shapes

Shape Vocabulary

• People and plants are organic (curved)
• Backgrounds are geometric
• Rectangles act as framing devices
• Positive shapes in cut paper
• Negative shapes left from cut
• Space between shapes
• Scale (large vs small)

Henri Matisse - The Knife Thrower

Henri Matisse - The Codomas

Construction paper, tag board, fabric (nylon, rayon, burlap, cotton), foil (aluminum, copper), cellophane, tissue paper

Wire

Fishing line, twine, string

Natural objects - feathers, leaves, sea shells, twigs, dried fish (yes, dried fish, the Japanese dry lots of fish and they look really surreal)

Litter - wrappers, bottle tops, note paper