Fish 1944

Alexander Calder’s ‘Fish’ is made up of wire and found glass objects, seemingly collected at random to give it a colourful, playful feel. It’s like he was thinking, “What can I do with all this stuff?” The way Calder strings the coloured glass within the wire grid introduces a sense of organized chaos. Each piece swings and sways gently, adding a sense of spontaneity. The colour is key: each shard of glass has its own translucent hue, which, when hit by the light, creates an evolving composition of colour and texture. It’s reminiscent of the work of Joan Miró, especially his collages, which also mix playful forms with a childlike sense of wonder. Calder seems to be asking us to see the world with a fresh perspective, finding beauty in the everyday and transforming it into something extraordinary. Like a constant conversation between ideas, artworks construct ways of seeing, thinking, and experiencing the world, open to multiple interpretations.