Reflections on the MCA

Wednesday's trip to the Museum of Contemporary Art was wonderful.  Unlike going to the House of Blues or the Cultural Center, where we explored a lot of folk art, at the MCA's we experienced and learned more about modern art.  The exhibit we saw, called "Form, Balance, Joy," shows a lot of Alexander Calder's sculptures and other artworks made by seven artists - Martin Boyne, Nathan Carter, Abrol Cruzvillegas, Aaron Curry, Kristi Lippire, Jason Middlebrook and Jason Meadows.

I spent most of the time looking at Calder's sculptures: creative reuse, animal imagery, bronzes, stabiles, mobiles and spiders.  All the sculptures are made from wire, sheet metal, bits and discarded items such as broken glass and ceramics.  Some of the sculptures look like something that I can easily recognize, for example, the finny fish made from beads, the little face made from wire and some abstract animals made from metal.  However, with others I could only use my imagination.  I had a great time at Calder's exhibition.  The giant sculpture, Flamingo, displayed in downtown Chicago and designed by Alexander Calder, was one of my favorite public artworks and that was also the first time I heard his name.  This exhibition gave me an opportunity to learn more about him.

Since I spent most of the time on the first floor, I also liked the exhibition in the room next to the one displaying Alexander Calder's artwork.  There was one called "From the Forest to the Mill to the Store to the Home to the Streets and Back Again" designed by Jason Middlebrook, which hangs on the ceiling of the museum.  The reason I liked this one was because when I looked at the sculpture, the balance between the log and the wood really interested me.  Also, Jason Middlebrook's past projects always use storm-damaged wood materials.