San Jose Museum of Art explores Alexander Calder with two new exhibits

Alexander Calder may be best known to the general public for his dynamic, large-scale sculptures that can be found in major U.S. and European cities. But two new exhibitions opening Friday night at the San Jose Museum of Art explore the more personal side of Calder’s work and the impact it had on other artists.

One of them, “Calder: at home, among friends,” has a very strong connection to San Jose, as many of the pieces of jewelry and other small items on display were gifted by the family of former San Jose Mayor Janet Gray Hayes, whose husband, Kenneth Hayes, was Calder’s nephew.

Mayor Hayes often wore Calder brooches during her time in office, and one of them — a stylized “JG” created by Calder for the groundbreaking politician — is among the two dozen pieces on view, including a gouache painting made for sculptor Louise Nevelson.

It wouldn’t be a Calder exhibition without some colorful mobiles and other delicate pieces that look like geometric abstract paintings brought to full 3-D life — and some of those are on display, too, including “Big Red,” a gift from the Hayes family in memory of Margaret “Peggy” Calder Hayes, the artist’s only sister, and given in honor of the San Jose Museum of Art’s 35th anniversary.

The other exhibition, “Still in Motion,” features work by four contemporary recipients of the Calder Prize, an award given biennially to artists whose innovative work reflect’s Calder’s legacy. The artists featured in the show are Tara Donovan, Jill Magid, Tomás Saraceno and Aki Sasamoto. They’re all stunning in their own way — with some definite Calder DNA showing in some — but the talker may be Magid’s “Hand-hacked Bouquet 1,” — an NFT of flowers “picked” from video games on a video monitor with sound.

Both shows open Friday with a celebration from 6 to 9 p.m., including a members’ reception from 6-7 p.m. Admission to the museum is free on Friday starting at 6 p.m., and you can get more information at www.sjmusart.org.

VIVA CALLE RETURNS: Six miles of streets of San Jose will be closed to cars — and open to bikes, walkers, runners and skateboarders — on Sunday for this year’s third edition of Viva CalleSJ.

The route this time, “Parks to Roses,” stretches from Roosevelt Park on Santa Clara and 19th streets through downtown to the Municipal Rose Garden and Japantown. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and, as usual, there will be several points along the route where vehicles can pass through.

There’ll be a lot going on along the route, like BMX stunt riders at San Jose City Hall, karaoke in front of the Billy DeFrank LGBTQ Community Center on The Alameda and Pro Wrestling Revolution shows at the intersection of Race Street and The Alameda.

Bands and DJs will provide entertainment at Roosevelt Park, St. James Park, the Municipal Rose Garden and Japantown, where there will also be food trucks and free bike repair stations. Get more information at www.vivacallesj.org.

MAGIC NIGHT FOR OPERA SAN JOSE: The South First Fridays art walk and street market return this week to downtown San Jose, and that’s good news for opera fans.

Opera San Jose will again be setting up at the California Theatre, providing fans with a preview of selections from Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” which the company will open Sept. 14, with young composer Alma Deutscher, who charmed Opera San Jose fans with her version of “Cinderella, conducting the orchestra.

Organist Jerry Nagano will perform favorite tunes on the California Theatre’s mighty Wurlitzer organ starting at 5:30 p.m., before Opera San Jose artists perform highlights from “The Magic Flute,” accompanied by pianist Veronika Agranov-Dafoe. Magician and mentalist David Martinez will entertain the audience at 7 p.m. with a bit of magic before Nagano closes things out on the Wurlitzer.

“First Friday performances are my favorite community events that Opera San Jose participates in, and our first one for the upcoming season is sure to delight the young and the young at heart as we showcase our thrilling production of ‘The Magic Flute,'” Opera San Jose General Director Shawna Lucey said.

Of course, there’s a lot more, as South First Fridays has expanded beyond the regular South First Street galleries to include venues in the Historic District (Works/San Jose and Chopsticks Alley) and Martha Gardens (Art Ark Gallery and Machu Picchu gallery). You can check out the full lineup and get a printable walking map at www.southfirstfridays.com.