John Chamberlain
(1927-2011)
John Chamberlain was born in Rochester, Indiana in 1927. In the mid-1940s he served in the US Navy, traveling through the Pacific, Mediterranean, and Atlantic, which greatly influenced his outlook and sense of scale. Upon his return to the United States, Chamberlain studied at the Art Institute of Chicago (1951-52) and then at Black Mountain College (1955-56). Chamberlain moved to New York in 1956, where he first began working with automobile parts. In the late-1960s, Chamberlain incorporated galvanized steel, urethane foam, and mineral-coated Plexiglas, returning exclusively to auto parts in the mid-1970s. Chamberlain’s dynamic spatial abstractions have come to define a masterful sixty-year career.
EDUCATION
1952 | The Art Insititue of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
1956 | Black Mountain College, Black Mountain, North Carolina
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2018
ENTIRELY FEARLESS, Gagosian, London
2017
John Chamberlain: Masks, Gagosian, New York
Foils, LongHouse Reserve, East Hampton, NY
2016
John Chamberlain: Poetic Form, Gagosian, Geneva, Switzerland
2015
John Chamberlain, Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, Scotland
2013
The Artist’s Studio: John Chamberlain, Guild Hall, East Hampton, NY
John Chamberlain: It Ain’t Cheap, Dan Flavin Art Institute, Dia Art Foundation, Bridgehampton, NY
2012
John Chamberlain: Choices, Guggenheim Museum, New York
Chamberlain at Fairchild, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Coral Gables, FL
Installation at Seagram Building, Gagosian, New York
2011
John Chamberlain: New Sculpture, Gagosian, New York
John Chamberlain: CURVATUREROMANCE, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany
John Chamberlain, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
John Chamberlain: New Sculpture, Gagosian, New York
John Chamberlain: New Sculpture, Gagosian, London
2010
John Chamberlain, Galería Elvira González, Madrid, Spain
2009
John Chamberlain: Sinkopeefeast, More Gallery, Giswil, Switzerland
John Chamberlain: Early Years, L & M Arts, New York
Contemporary Conversations: John Chamberlain, “American Tableau.” The Menil Collection, Houston, TX
2008
John Chamberlain: Recent Work, Pace Wildenstein, New York
2007
John Chamberlain: Squeezed and Tied: Foam and Paper Sculptures 1969–70, Dan Flavin Art Institute, Dia Center for the Arts, Bridgehampton, NY
John Chamberlain: New Work, Anthony Meier Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA
2006
John Chamberlain: It’s his show, Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris; Buchmann Galerie, Berlin; Galerie Xavier Hufkens, Brussels, Belgium
2005
Foam Sculptures 1966–1981, Photographs 1989–2004, Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas
John Chamberlain: Recent Sculpture, Pace Wildenstein, New York
John Chamberlain: Without Fear. Waddington Galleries, London, England
John Chamberlain: Papier Paradiso, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland
2003
John Chamberlain: Early Works, Allan Stone Gallery, New York
2002
John Chamberlain: Sculpture 1988–2001, Waddington Galleries, London
2000
John Chamberlain: The Hedge, The Center for Public Sculpture, New York
John Chamberlain Sculpture: Selections from The Menil Collection and Dia Center for the Arts, The Menil Collection, Houston, TX
John Chamberlain: Recent Sculpture, Pace Wildenstein, New York
1999
John Chamberlain, Lever House, New York
1998
John Chamberlain: Chamberlain’s Fauve Landscape, Pace Wildenstein, New York
1997
John Chamberlain: Sculpture and Photographs, Pace Wildenstein, New York
John Chamberlain: “Sculptures.” Jablonka Galerie, Cologne, Germany
1996
John Chamberlain, Kukje Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
John Chamberlain: Current Work and Fond Memories, Sculptures and Photographs 1967–1995, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, Germany
Baby Tycoons: Skulpturen von John Chamberlain, Galerie Daniel Blau, Münster, Germany
1994
John Chamberlain, Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne, Germany
John Chamberlain: Recent Sculpture, PaceWildenstein, New York; Daniel Weinberg Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1993
John Chamberlain, Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston, MA
John Chamberlain, Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris, France
John Chamberlain Photographs, Galerie Sonia Zannettacci, Geneva, Switzerland
Wide Point: The Photography of John Chamberlain, Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY
1992
John Chamberlain: Neue Skulpturen, Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne, Germany
John Chamberlain: Recent Work, The Pace Gallery, New York, NY
John Chamberlain: New Work, Dan Flavin Art Institute, Dia Center for the Arts, Bridgehampton, NY
John Chamberlain: New Sculpture, Laura Carpenter Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
John Chamberlain, Galleria Seno, Milan, Italy
1991
John Chamberlain, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden, Germany; Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Dresden, Germany
John Chamberlain: Monotypes, Pace Editions, New York
John Chamberlain: New Sculpture, Pace Gallery, New York
1990
John Chamberlain: Gondolas and Dooms Day Flotilla, Dia Center for the Arts, New York
John Chamberlain, Waddington Galleries, London, England
1989
John Chamberlain: New Sculpture, Pace Gallery, New York
1988
John Chamberlain, Galerie Sonia Zannettacci, Geneva, Switzerland
John Chamberlain, Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1987
John Chamberlain, Galerie Pierre Huber, Geneva, Switzerland
Sculpture, John Chamberlain, 1970s & 1980s, The Menil Collection, Houston, TX
John Chamberlain: Recent Sculpture, Xavier Fourcade, Inc., New York, NY
John Chamberlain: Recent Sculpture, Fabian Carlsson Gallery, London, England
1986
John Chamberlain: Sculpture, 1954–1985, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
John Chamberlain: Oils, Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich, Germany; Galerie Rudolf Zwirner, Cologne, Germany
John Chamberlain: Sculpture, Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1985
John Chamberlain, Galerie Gillespie—Laage-Salomon, Paris, France
1984
John Chamberlain: L Skulpturen, Galerie Gillespie—Laage-Salomon, Paris, France
John Chamberlain: Selected Prints, Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
John Chamberlain: New Sculpture, Xavier Fourcade, New York
John Chamberlain: Tonks, Gallery Helen vand der Meij, Amsterdam, Netherlands
John Chamberlain: Drawings, Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich, Germany
John Chamberlain: Esculturas, Palacio de Cristal Parque del Retiro, Madrid, Spain
1983
John Chamberlain, L.A. Louver Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Exhibits Tonks in John Chamberlain, Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
John Chamberlain, Robert L. Kidd Galleries, Birmingham, MI
John Chamberlain: Sculpture and Work on Paper, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
John Chamberlain Reliefs 1960–1982, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL
1982
John Chamberlain Sculpture: An Extended Exhibition, Dia Art Foundation, New York
Chamberlain Gardens: Essex, Dia Art Foundation, Essex, CT
Leo Castelli Gallery, New York
1979
John Chamberlain, Kunsthalle Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Stedelijk van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands
1978
John Chamberlain, Galerie Heiner Friedrich, Munich, German; Galerie Heiner Friedrich, Cologne, Germany
1977
John Chamberlain, Galerie Heiner Friedrich, New York
The Texas Pieces, Presented by the Dia Art Foundation, Manhattan Psychiatric Center, Ward’s Island, New York
View from the Cockpit, Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1976
Leo Castelli Gallery, New York
John Chamberlain: An Exhibition of Sculpture, Mayor Gallery, London, UK
1975
James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
John Chamberlain: Recent Sculpture. Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX; Saint Louis Botanical Gardens, Saint Louis, MO; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN
John Chamberlain, Ronald Greenburg Gallery, St. Louis, MO
1974
Walter Kelly Gallery, Chicago, IL
1973
John Chamberlain: An Exhibition of New Works in Foil, Leo Castelli Gallery, New York
John Chamberlain: The Texas Pieces, Dag Hammarskjold Plaza Sculpture Garden, New York
1972
John Chamberlain/Fucking Couches, Lo Giudice Gallery, New York, NY in affiliation with Leo Castelli Gallery, New York
1971
John Chamberlain: A Retrospective Exhibition, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
John Chamberlain, Leo Castelli Gallery, New York
1970
John Chamberlain “Soft and Hard”: Recent Sculpture, Lo Giudice Gallery, Chicago, IL
John Chamberlain: Minneapolis Couches, Locksley/Shea Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
1969
John Chamberlain, Leo Castelli, New York
John Chamberlain, Mizuno Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1968
Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH
1967
Galerie Heiner Friedrich, Munich, Germany
Galerie Rudolf Zwirner, Cologne, Germany
Pomona College Art Department, Claremont, CA
Gallery 26: John Chamberlain, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
1966
John Chamberlain, Dwan Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1965
Paintings done in auto lacquer and metal flake on formica, Leo Castelli Gallery, New York
1964
John Chamberlain, Leo Castelli Gallery, New York
John Chamberlain, Galerie Ileana Sonnabend, Paris, France
1963
John Chamberlain: Sculpture, Pace Gallery, Boston, MA
1962
Dilexi Gallery, San Francisco, CA
John Chamberlain. Dilexi Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Leo Castelli Gallery, New York
1960
John Chamberlain, Martha Jackson Gallery, New York
1957
Wells Street Gallery, Chicago, IL
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH
American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., New York, NY
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, TX
The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX
The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI
Dia Art Foundation, New York, NY
The Douglas Cramer Foundation, Los Angeles, CA
Frederick R. Weisman Foundation of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Rome, Italy
General Mills, Minneapolis, MI
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C
International Business Machines, Armonk, NY
IVAM Centre Julio González, Valencia, Spain
John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL
Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts, Louisville, KY
Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland
Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Maxine and Stuart Frankel Foundation for Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI
The Menil Collection, Houston, TX
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, TX
Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany
Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany
Museum moderner Kunst, Vienna, Austria
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
The Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park, Governors State University, University Park, IL
National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO
New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY
Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, FL
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL
The Refco Collection, Chicago, IL
Rivendell Collection, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
The Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis, MO
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
Southwestern Bell, Saint Louis, MO
Städtisches Museum Abteiberg Mönchengladbach, Mönchengladbach, Germany
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tate Gallery, London, England
University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
Warner Brothers, Burbank, CA
Washington University Gallery of Art, Saint Louis, MO
Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, Switzerland