Hauser & Wirth
Pg.77,no.11_Hillbilly Galoot, 1960

John Chamberlain

John Chamberlain Estate

John Chamberlain, Cerro Gordo Compound, Santa Fe, New Mexico 1966. © 2024 Fairweather & Fairweather LTD / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Dan Budnik

John Chamberlain (1927 – 2011) was a quintessentially American artist, channeling the innovative power of the postwar years into a relentlessly inventive practice spanning six decades. He first achieved renown for sculptures made in the late 1950s through 1960s from automobile parts—these were path-breaking works that effectively transformed the gestural energy of Abstract Expressionist painting into three dimensions. Ranging in scale from miniature to monumental, Chamberlain’s compositions of twisted, crushed, and forged metal also bridged the divide between Process Art and Minimalism, drawing tenets of both into a new kinship. These singular works established him as one of the first American artists to determine color as a natural component of abstract sculpture. From the late 1960s until the end of his life, Chamberlain harnessed the expressive potential of an astonishing array of materials, which varied from Plexiglas, resin, and paint, to foam, aluminum foil, and paper bags.

After spending three years in the United States Navy during World War II, Chamberlain enrolled in the Art Institute of Chicago and Black Mountain College, where he developed the critical underpinnings of his work. Chamberlain lived and worked in many parts of the United States, moving between New York City, Long Island, Los Angeles, Santa Fe, Connecticut, and Sarasota, before finally settling on Shelter Island. In many ways, each location provoked a distinct material sensibility, often defined by the availability of that material or the limitations of physical space. In New York City, Chamberlain pulled scrap metal and twelve-inch acoustic tiles from the ceiling of his studio apartment. He chose urethane in Los Angeles in 1965 (a material he had been considering for many years), and film in Mexico in 1968. He eventually returned to metal in 1972, and, in Sarasota, he expanded the scale of his works to make his iconic Gondolas (1981 – 1982). The movement of the artist and the subsequent evolution of the work is indicative not only of a kind of American restlessness but also of Chamberlain’s own personal evolution: he sometimes described his use of automobile materials as sculptural self-portraits, infused with balance and rhythm characteristic of the artist himself.

Chamberlain refused to separate color from his practice, saying, ‘I never thought of sculpture without color. Do you see anything around that has no color? Do you live in a world with no color?’. He both honored and assigned value to color in his practice—in his early sculptures color was not added, but composed from the preexisting palette of his chosen automobile parts. Chamberlain later began adding color to metal in 1974, dripping and spraying—and sometimes sandblasting—paint and lacquer onto his metal components prior to their integration. With his polyurethane foam works, color was a variable of light: ultraviolet rays or sunlight turned the material from white to amber. It was this profound visual effect that brought the artist’s personal Abstract Expressionist hand into industrial three-dimensional sculpture. Chamberlain moved seamlessly through scale and volume, creating material explorations in monumental, heavy-gauge painted aluminum foil in the 1970s, and later in the 1980s and 1990s, miniatures in colorful aluminum foil and chromium painted steel.

Central to Chamberlain’s works is the notion that sculpture denotes a great deal of weight and physicality, disrupting whatever space it occupies. In the Barges series (1971 – 1983) he made immense foam couches, inviting spectators to lounge upon the cushioned landscape. At the end of his career, Chamberlain shifted his practice outdoors, and through a series of determined experiments, finally created brilliant, candy-colored sculptures in twisted aluminum foil. In 2012, four of these sculptures were shown outside the Seagram Building in New York, accompanied by playful titles such as ‘PINEAPPLESURPRISE’ (2010) and ‘MERMAIDSMISCHIEF’ (2009). These final works exemplify Chamberlain’s lifelong dedication to change—of his materials, of his practice, and, consequently, of American Art.

Chamberlain has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions, including two major Retrospectives at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York NY in 2012 and 1971; ‘John Chamberlain, Squeezed and Tied. Foam and Paper Sculptures 1969-70,’ Dan Flavin Art Institute, Dia Center for the Arts, Bridgehampton NY (2007); ‘John Chamberlain. Foam Sculptures 1966–1981, Photographs 1989–2004,’ Chinati Foundation, Marfa TX (2005); ‘John Chamberlain. Current Work and Fond Memories, Sculptures and Photographs 1967–1995,’ Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands (Traveling Exhibition) (1996); and ‘John Chamberlain. Sculpture, 1954–1985,’ Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles CA (1986). Chamberlain’s sculptures are part of permanent exhibitions at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa TX and at Dia:Beacon in upstate New York. In 1964, Chamberlain represented the United States in the American Pavilion at the 32nd International Exhibition of the Venice Biennale. He received many awards during his life, including a Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa, from the College for Creative Studies, Detroit (2010); the Distinction in Sculpture Honor from the Sculpture Center, New York (1999); the Gold Medal from The National Arts Club Award, New York (1997); the Lifetime Achievement Award in Contemporary Sculpture by the International Sculpture Center, Washington D.C. (1993); and the Skowhegan Medal for Sculpture, New York NY (1993).

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Selected Artworks

COMEOVER

2007

Simplysplendid

1986

PARISIANESCAPADE

1999

Hillbilly Galoot

1960

Essex

1960

Fantail

1961

Glossalia Adagio

1984

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Biography

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Biography

Born

Rochester IN, 1927

Education

Studied at The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago IL, 1952

Studied at Black Mountain College, Black Mountain NC, 1956

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Solo Exhibitions

2023

Aspen Art Museum, 'John Chamberlain: THE TIGHTER THEY ARE WOUND, THE HARDER THEY UNRAVEL', cur. Urs Fischer, Aspen CO 

The Chinati Foundation, 'John Chamberlain Sculptures and Paintings', Marfa TX 

Hauser & Wirth, 'John Chamberlain. The Poetics of Scale', Monaco 

Mnuchin Gallery, 'John Chamberlain. Five Decades +', New York NY  

Galerie Karsten Greve, 'John Chamberlain: Sculpture', Cologne, Germany 

2022

Galerie Karsten Greve, 'John Chamberlain: Sculpture', Paris, France 

Hauser & Wirth, 'Larry Bell & John Chamberlain', Los Angeles CA

Hauser & Wirth, 'John Chamberlain. Reclaimed', Zurich, Switzerland

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Group Exhibitions

2023

Hauser & Wirth, 'Escape', Southampton NY

2022

Museum Brandhorst, 'Future Bodies From a Recent Past. Sculpture, Technology, and the Body since the 1950s', Munich, Germany

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Awards & Honors

2010

College for Creative Studies, Doctor of Fine Arts, Honoris Causa, Detroit MI 

2007

Guildhall Academy, Lifetime Achievement Award, East Hampton NY 

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Bibliography

Monographs

2025

Belcove, Julie, 'Living with Chamberlain', New York: ASSOULINE, 2025, ill.

2023

Karmel, Pepe, 'John Chamberlain: Five Decades +', New York: Mnuchin Gallery, 2023, ill. (exh. cat.) 

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Selected Publications

2022

Dander, Patrizia (ed.), 'Future Bodies from a Recent Past—Sculpture, Technology, and the Body since the 1950s', Munich: Museum Brandhorst, 2022, pp. 67, 229, ill. (exh. cat.)

2018

Dziewior, Yilmaz (ed.), ‘Museum Ludwig. Art. 20th/21st Centuries. Collection. Painting, Sculpture, New Media’, Cologne: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, 2018, p. 133, ill.

Press

2025

Ginsburg, Aaron, 'Three works by sculptor John Chamberlain make their U.S. debut at Rockefeller Center', on: 6sqft.com, 16 April 2025, ill.

Lewis, Abbe, 'These three striking large-scale sculptures are now on display by Rockefeller Center', on: timeout.com, 17 April 2025, ill.

___, 'John Chamberlain at Christie's + Rockefeller Center', on: gothamtogo.com, 18 April 2025, ill.

Waddoups, Ryan, 'Matthew William, Joa Baldinger, and Heiner Friedrich Unpack John Chamberlain’s Influence', on: galeriemagazine.com, 3 April 2025, ill.

Knowles, Solange, Judd, Rainer, ''Collision and Chaos': Rainer Judd and Solange Knowles Explore the Legacy of John Chamberlain' [interview], on: interviewmagazine.com, 1 April 2025, ill.

Novi, Ana, 'Best London Shows this March: Arita Singh, Mickalene Thomas, and More', on: whitewall.art, 27 March 2025, ill.

2024

Sporn, Stephanie, 'Out with the Astors, in with the Caleders: revisiting Newport, Rhode island's 1974 public sculpture extravaganza', on: theartnewspaper.com, 14 November 2024
Bicher, Kristina Andersson, 'The Softer Side of John Chamberlain', on: whitehotmagazine.com, 6 April 2024, ill. 

Girgis, Sarah, 'Kick the midwinter blues with Aspen’s dynamic art scene', on: aspentimes.com, 21 February 2024, ill. 

Griffin, Jonathan, 'John Chamberlain’s car-crush sculptures deserve a second look', on: ft.com, 6 February 2024, ill. 

Fischer, Urs, '"It’s All Fear, No?": Lena Henke, in Conversation With Urs Fischer', on: interviewmagazine.com, 3 January 2024, ill. 

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