Air Mail 1974

Alexander Calder made this painting, Air Mail, in 1974, using ink and gouache on paper. Look how the paper shines through the layers of paint! It is an abstract space with biomorphic forms and floating figures, all delineated with thick black lines. I wonder what Calder was thinking when he made it. Was he remembering childhood, when everything seemed possible, a world of play and imagination? I am drawn to the whimsical interplay between abstraction and representation, like, what are those red circles? Balloons? Planets? And are those people falling or flying? The blue lines cutting through the composition, like threads connecting these shapes, pull the eye around and through the image. Calder’s marks are direct and confident, but also playful. His work reminds us of the joyful possibilities that arise when we embrace spontaneity. I see echoes of Miró and Klee in this work, who also used simple shapes and forms to tap into the subconscious.