Alexander Calder in Japan

Marking Alexander Calder’s first solo exhibition in Tokyo in nearly 35 years, Azabudai Hills Gallery features Calder: Un effet du japonais, until September 6, 2024.

Calder: Un effet du japonais explores the enduring resonance of the American modernist’s art with Japanese traditions and aesthetics. Curated by Alexander S. C. Rower, President of the Calder Foundation, New York, and organised in collaboration with Pace Gallery, the exhibition comprises approximately 100 works from the collection of the Calder Foundation that span the 1930s to the 1970s, ranging from the artist’s signature mobiles, stabiles, and standing mobiles to his oil paintings and works on paper.

While Calder never traveled to Japan himself, he was embraced by many of the country’s artists and poets during his lifetime. Today, more than two dozen of his works can be found in 18 museums across Japan. In the spirit of Calder’s collaborations with the greatest architects of his time, New York-based Stephanie Goto—longtime Calder Foundation collaborator—has created a bespoke exhibition design rooted in the geometry of a 3:4:5 triangle that features elegant and modern references to Japanese architecture and materials.