CALDER IN FLIGHT: AS SEEN BY EDWARD ENNINFUL

NAHMAD CONTEMPORARY, 2025

Tarmak22, Gstaad Airport, Switzerland | 2025

Calder in Flight, an exhibition by Nahmad Contemporary, designed by studioMDA, featuring the works of venerated American artist Alexander Calder (1898–1976). The exhibition is presented at the distinct location of Tarmak22, where Calder’s works are set in dialogue with the striking atmosphere alongside the tarmac where aircrafts take flight in vivid displays of aerodynamics.

studioMDA was deeply involved in crafting the exhibition layout and custom pedestals. The vision behind the pedestals was to create a dynamic foundation that complements the aerodynamic essence of the smaller sculptures. Their round shape allows visitors to experience the sculptures from multiple perspectives, enhancing the sense of movement inherent in Calder’s work.

Spanning five decades, this selection of Calder’s sculptures is enriched by the perspective of one of the leading voices in the creative industry working today, Edward Enninful, who will oversee the unique installation in a setting that invites reflection on aerodynamic principles in resonance with the artist’s gravity-defying works.

Calder in Flight invokes a dynamic dialogue between Calder’s ethereal kinetic works and the world of aviation, both mediated by the artful manipulation of invisible forces. Calder’s mobiles—delicately suspended in the air—were born from the artist’s boundless intuition in their achievement of balance and form. [Text extracted from Nahmad Contemporary’s website].

Credits: Installation views, Calder in Flight, Nahmad Contemporary, Tarmak22, 2025. Photographs by Julien Gremaud; Calder assembling Five Rods and Nine Discs (1936), Roxbury, Connecticut, 1938. Photograph by Herbert Matter. © 2025 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York