This exhibition pairs wood sculptures by Pittsburgh native Thaddeus Mosley (American b. 1926) with works by the radical inventor of the mobile, Alexander Calder (American 1898-1976).
When Calder began making mobiles in 1931, he transformed the trajectory of sculpture by removing its mass and taking it off the pedestal. His nonobjective kinetic works undulate unpredictably in the air, transforming the space around them in the process. “The idea of detached bodies floating in space, of different sizes and densities, perhaps of different colors and temperatures, and surrounded and interlarded with wisps of gaseous condition, and some at rest, while others move in peculiar manners, seems to me the ideal source of form,” he said in 1951.
The aesthetics of modern sculpture were inspirational to Mosley when he started his practice in the 1950s and first encountered Calder’s work. Mosley’s composite organic forms further developed through the study of African carvings, notably by Dogon, Senufo, Bamum and Mossi makers. In these artworks, Mosley creates acute impressions of instability and precariousness. “I have a philosophy of weight and space,” he says, “and that means that everything should rise from the bottom to the top to get the feeling of levitation.”
The seventeen sculptures by Mosley in this exhibition, made between 2001 and 2024, characteristically emphasize weight and balance. Five works by Calder, chosen in consultation with Mosley and made between 1936 and 1956, slice through space, pointing to energetic forces beyond human perception. In vitally different ways, these two artists create a heightened awareness of forms in space and instill the anticipation of change.