Oreillettes 1969

Curator: Alright, let’s spend a few moments with Alexander Calder's “Oreillettes” from 1969. Acrylic on canvas, it's a piece that always makes me think. Editor: Immediately, I'm struck by its visual punch—the contrast, the movement. It’s energetic and a little disorienting. I can’t quite put my finger on the mood. Curator: Disorienting, yes! Look at the bold stripes playing off the rounded shapes. Calder was a master of dynamic form. Do you think those simple forms might hold deeper meaning beyond just shapes? Editor: Perhaps. Semiotically, we could say the circle represents wholeness, the orange blob passion. But Calder often resists such literal interpretations. I’m drawn more to how the composition defies a clear focal point. Your eyes dart around, unsure where to rest. It's unsettling. Curator: He’s known for his mobiles, bringing that element into his paintings seems natural. There is a tension of movement here and that’s key. It looks static, but is anything *really* static? The swirl almost feels like a dizzying galaxy, doesn’t it? And those stripes – does the hard structure emphasize those organic blobs, or vice versa? Editor: An interesting suggestion—juxtaposition creating visual intrigue! And thinking of Calder's sculptures – are we seeing flattened, disassembled components here? Almost as if a mobile has been pressed into two dimensions. Curator: Exactly! He translates space and movement, so integral to his sculptures, to a flat plane, it feels playful and mischievous, as he always manages. It makes you question how you would create a world where form is unstable. And does the title perhaps help us? Editor: Oreillettes…ears. Suddenly the blue form atop might be speaking – or listening. But I can't hear what to do with this work in terms of resolution; and, maybe it has something to do with its spirit? Curator: Maybe you just enjoy letting it hang in the air? Editor: Perhaps that’s what Calder intended.