Devil Fish 1937

Alexander Calder made this “Devil Fish” sculpture from painted metal, and its all about how simple shapes can suggest a whole world of possibilities. I always look for how artists put things together. Calder uses flatness and color to play with depth, our expectations. This shape, that black curving form, it feels like a dance move caught in steel. You can sense the artist's hand in it, bending the metal like it's paper, that the shape of the individual plates, it makes us want to touch it, see if it will wobble! Calder reminds me of Joan Miró, with the way he boils down forms to their essence. It’s like they’re both speaking this secret language of shapes, an ongoing conversation of form and possibility. Art is about keeping that conversation going, not having the last word, right?