Calders Circus
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Maybe the fastest way to get to Calder’s work would be talking about gigantic scale of metal and wire Mobile hanging in JFK airport. I’m sure we all have seen it. I believe it is the exactly same one used to be at NY Port Authority bus terminal.
Before all of his famous big scaled metal sculpture creations through 40’s, Calder was always an Amante for Circus. In 1923, Calder moved to NY and enrolled himself to Art Students League and got a job illustrating for National Police Gazette. The Job would send him to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus for two weeks for him to sketch circus scenes. This was in 1925. Since then, the circus became his life long interest and after moving to Paris in 1926, he created his Cirque Calder, a miniature complex and unique body of art. The assemblage included diminutive performers, animals, and props. Calder used wire, leather, cloth and other found materials.
The Parisian Avant-garde would gather in Calder’s studio to watch the mini circus in operation. We had bought this film, ” Calders Circus” by Roland films on art at Whitney Museum. This film celebrates his ingeniously articulated tiny wire performers from the female dancer to the roaring lion. And you can’t deny the intimate vibe of small production and Calder’s witty and wonderful personality lying under every character’s performances.
Calder’s masterfully calm and intricate details in every aspects of miniature circus really make me re think about today’s main stream of commercial art. Desperately shocking but sadly empty.
Here I’m attaching 4 mt clip from You Tube.
A Man named Pearl
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http://www.amannamedpearl.com/
I just watched a documentary movie about this man, Pearl Fryar.
He’s a self taught Topiary Gardener. In the poorest county in South Carolina, Pearl has single-handedly created an amazing 3-1/2 acre garden from throwaway plants. What an amazing man with passsion and determination. I highly recomend the movie.
Work of Kiyotaka Hatanaka
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I just had picked up this portrait book called ” Columbia Road Flower Market” by a Photographer, Kiyotaka Hatanaka.
Soft natural lighting and Sepia like neutral colored photos of different everyday people holding their flowers and plants they may have bought from the market. In a way nothing special but also very compelling I find.
Nothing shocking or challenging and it does just feel good and comforting. Here, I’m attaching the artist’s site for you to check out. You can take a look at a few pages of the book under his “project” section.
I find his portraits are very strong.
Columbia Road Flower Market by Kiyotaka Hatanaka
A boy holiding maybe Peonies…? It’s marked as March 2005.