FOR 11/9

‘SIMPLICITY OF MEANS’ ON VIEW AT JONATHAN O’HARA GALLERY

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NEW YORK CITY — The Jonathan O’Hara Gallery presents an Alexander Calder exhibition, “Simplicity of Means: Calder and The Devised Object,” featuring 52 diverse, functional objects, representing a limited and rarely seen facet of Calder’s oeuvre. It is the first public exhibition focusing on Calder’s purely utilitarian art since the “Calder Intime” exhibition in 1989, organized by Daniel Marchesseau.

Highlights include two of only three chess sets in existence, a pipe cleaner, various children’s toys, including a 5-foot dollhouse, a candelabra, dining utensils, toasters, ashtrays, a light fixture and other assorted objects.

Jessica Holmes, deputy director of the Calder Foundation said, “Calder’s commitment to both solid design and aesthetic rigor underlies his supposedly playful demeanor. Calder demanded perfection from the tools and objects that surrounded him.”

“Rather than give in to using deficient mass-manufactured goods, his solution was simply to make better ones of his own design,” she said.

A fully illustrated, 80-page, color catalog accompanies the show.

The gallery is at 41 East 57th Street. For general information, www.johg.com or 212-644-3533.