I went to both the exhibition itself and a rare performance of a percussion piece inspired by Calder and including one of his mobiles as instrument and orchestrator.
The exhibition was a revelation. It starts with extremely clever, simple and effective figurative sculptures, made with wire and therefore delicate to look at and very effectively having a second existence in their shadows on the wall. The simplicity was similar to that achieved by Picasso and, more recently, one of Ai Wei Wei's works at the Royal Academy.
The exhibition then moved on to the remaining, abstract, period of his career, ushered in by the influence of Mondrian. This, the larger, part of the exhibition contained works perhaps more readily associated with his name.
Then, later in the evening came the performance by four percussionists from Guildhall. There were four percussion sets with the mobile in the middle. At occasions, one or more percussionists visited the mobile to play upon it and rotate it. It thus took on a life in the performance and one that, if I understood correctly, dictated the unfolding of the performance. It all seemed very complex and the music was received with rapt attention by the entire audience despite its challenging nature - not a cough to be heard.
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