Calder Stories

The methodology of the unrealized in the history of art is something that Obrist has pursued for almost thirty years now. Unfortunately it is no longer possible to ask the artist about this, but the curator has gathered information about Calder projects forgotten, directly or indirectly censored, misunderstood, repressed, lost, or impossible to execute…

Some of Calder’s most famous works were fruits of collaboration with leading architects, choreographers, and composers of his time, but their backstories have to date gone largely unexamined. Most of these projects were carried out, but some were not. ‘Calder Stories’ initiates an exploration of what the artist left behind, adding nuances and complexities to our knowledge of someone considered a fundamental pillar of 20th-century art.