BLACK FLAG 1974

Alexander Calder made this striking sculpture, *Black Flag*, using sheets of metal bolted together. It's a beast of a thing. I imagine him in the workshop, wrestling with these huge pieces of metal. The black shape rises up from the grass, a hulking, imposing figure, yet there's also this surprising lightness and openness to it. It's all curves and angles, playing off each other. The paint is matte, worn in places, giving it a kind of solemn dignity. It's all very 'him'; this is the world according to Calder, but in black, like an intaglio print. That upward thrust, the flat planes meeting in sharp points – it reminds me of other artists grappling with form and space, like a deconstructed Picasso. It’s like Calder is building his sculpture from graphic signs, assembling shapes to create meaning. We can imagine how he was in dialogue with other artists across time. The sculpture invites us to move around it, and there are a thousand ways of seeing.