Made in Guatemala

The Gallery of Everything presents Made in Guatemala a series of rare maguey fibre tapestries, fabricated by Central American craftspeople in association with the artist Alexander Calder (1898–1976).

Alexander Calder was an inventive and prolific maker whose career spanned his adult life. Calder harboured a lifetime fascination for folk art and indigenous manufacture. On a visit to Latin America in the 1940s, Calder and his wife Louisa encountered the tapestries of the region. A series of wall hangings at the home of New York collector and philanthropist, Catalina Kitty Meyer, inspired the artist anew.

Calder had previously collaborated with Meyer on an art auction to benefit victims of the 1973 Nicaraguan earthquake. Calder and Meyer now conceived a project to adapt his designs into soft sculptural hammocks and tapestries.

EAT (Experiments in Art and Technology), the non-profit formed in 1966 by Robert Rauschenberg and others, put together a proposal to cover the costs of production. The primary aim was to ensure that village workers were paid a commensurate wage in the aftermath of the disaster.

Calder selected images from his voluminous archive of gouaches, drawings and tapestry sketches, and monitored the prototypes with realistic expectations: My circles aren’t perfect – and I don’t want them to be, he declared.

No-one was prepared for the astonishing beauty and complexity that ensued. In particular, the Guatemalan artisans exploded Calder’s signature loops and swirls into fabulous surfaces of hand-dyed, curled and braided fibres. The rugs were alive, almost more calderesque than the originals.

Calder’s network of gallerists, collectors, curators and allies supported the project, offering pieces to clients and encouraging donations to universities under the Art for Education program. A 1975 gala at the New York Cultural Center under director Mario Amaya led to exhibitions at the Chrysler Museum and at venues across the United States. Editions of the tapestries found homes in museum, university and private collections worldwide.

The Gallery of Everything presents a rarely-seen ensemble of these monumental wall-hangings, alongside works on paper by the artist himself.