Go See, New York – John Chamberlain at Paula Cooper Gallery through April 2nd, 2011
March 27th, 2011
Installation view of John Chamberlain at Paula Cooper Gallery, via Art Daily
A John Chamberlain retrospective will be on view at Paula Cooper Gallery at 534 W. 21st Street in New York through April 2nd, showcasing works from 1962 through 1990. The exhibition emphasizes his trademark free-standing twists, and crumpling of welded discarded car parts.
John Chamberlain, Dhuha Ditty (1983). Via The Paula Cooper Gallery
more story and images after the jump…
Chamberlain has been widely exhibited, most notably with his permanent exhibition at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas, which began with sculptures produced on a farm in Amarillo, Texas from 1972 to 1975, later given to the Chinati Foundation in 1986. Chamberlain held his first retrospective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 1971, after receiving his first of two Guggenheim fellowships in 1966.
Installation view of John Chamberlain works in Marfa, Texas. Via The Chinati Foundation
Historically, Chamberlain has been working with everyday industrial materials since the late 1950s, including melted Plexiglas, compressed aluminum, and tied foam. The works allude to a contemporary moment of Abstract Expressionist sculptural reevaluation, specifically the work of David Smith, in which commonplace materials literally “reshaped” sculptural relevance.
David Smith, Construction (1932). Via The David Smith Estate
Even as the sculptures speak to industrialism, the form of the works is inherently spontaneous. In 1982, Chamberlain told the Chinati Foundation:
Intuition will indicate when something is not acceptable, even though it might work. That it works it not necessarily enough. It can be acceptable, but something more is needed…the completion of a piece is intuitive and, on looking at a finished piece, it will have a stance that represents my attitude regarding it. My sculpture is not calculated to do anything other than what it looks like it’s doing.
John Chamberlain, Marilyn Monroe (1963). Via The Paula Cooper Gallery
Ultimately, the work on view at Paula Cooper affirms Chamberlain’s dually historic and aesthetic relevance, and is a testament to his influence as a fixture of Abstract Expressionist sculpture.
A. Bregman
Reference Links
John Chamberlain [The Paula Cooper Gallery]
John Chamberlain [Guggenheim Collection Online]
John Chamberlain [The Chinati Foundation]
