Calder-Miro -- A Balancing Act

I have recently been thinking a lot about the creativity that comes from collaboration. What better way of illustrating it than the Calder-Miro exhibit at the Phillips Gallery that Rachel and I visited today. For years I had admired the work of these two superb artists, but I had never realized that they were lifelong friends who served to inspire each other.

Alexander Calder and Joan Miro met in 1928. They shared many artistic interests organized around common themes such as the circus, bestiary, universe, and constellations. They both aspired to create monumental works for public spaces, being quite willing to break with tradition in doing so. They combined color, shape, and line in ways never before imagined. Although they worked independently, they had a lifelong correspondence which served to reinforce each other’s vision.

A common theme for both artists is balance. Calder’s mobiles all depend on intricate systems of weights to maintain their shapes and integrity. Miro frequently uses the image of a tightrope in his abstract paintings. They sensed a necessary balance in life that goes beyond the canvas or the metal pieces of the mobile.

I am touched by the poem Miro wrote to his old friend upon his death:

(Translated from the French)
Your face has become dark,
and, upon the day’s awakening,
Your ashes will disperse themselves
throughout the garden.
Your ashes will fly to the sky,
to make love with the stars.

Sandy,
Sandy,
Your ashes caress
The rainbow flowers
That tickle the blue of the sky.

Joan Miro