La Calle, La Calle Vieja uses static, industrial materials to create an object that is evocative of natural forms and movement. Created during the same year as Barcelona, the sculptures have common elements: they both incorporate found objects, shapes made from steel wire, colorful glass discs, and utilize similar wall supports. While Barcelona’s intricate network of wire circles suggests rapid, chaotic, bubbling movement that spills out into the gallery space, La Calle, La Calle Vieja is more controlled: with its motion restricted to the gallery walls, it is blooming rather than bursting. Floral wiggle board (flexible plywood) shapes contribute to this sense of blossoming, as does the watering can nestled among them. The glass discs and other circles of painted wood clustered throughout the piece look like scattered petals. The shape of the olives painted onto the tin near the center of the composition is mirrored in the giant, green bowl on the far right. The rest of the sculpture seems to spill out of it like a cornucopia, further supporting a botanical interpretation.
La Calle, La Calle Vieja
July 29, 2015
La Calle, La Calle Vieja, 1990, painted wiggle board and steel, found objects, signage, 56 x 156 x 62 in, Lent by the artist, Photograph by Laura Shea. © Judy Pfaff
