1981 - 1983
John Chamberlain, Charcoal Fudge, 1981
1981
Chamberlain establishes a studio at Cocoanut Avenue and Tenth Street in Sarasota, transforming a former lumber warehouse into a spacious studio with substantial floor space and high ceilings. This studio, named "Ten Coconut," remains operational for the following three decades.
He purchases a houseboat named Ottonello and resides on it. The term "Ottonello" is said to mean "in the twinkling of an eve" according to Chamberlain. The houseboat is situated in a local marina.
Chamberlain completes the sculpture "Deliquescence" in 1981 as part of a commission for Detroit. The sculpture is later transported to Detroit in 1982 and placed on the Wayne State University campus. It awaits installation outside the Patrick V. McNamara Federal Building downtown.
The monumental sculpture "Deliquescence," which employs automobile chassis as its vertical armature, serves as an inspiration for the Armada series. This series includes sculptures like "Gondola Henry Wadsworth Longfellow," "Gondola Herman Melville," "Gondola T. S. Eliot," and "Gondola W. H. Auden," which were created in 1981 and later retitled in 1984.
The Armada series grows into a collection of horizontal, low-lying sculptures known as the Gondolas. This series pays tribute to poets and writers, mainly American figures whom Chamberlain encountered either personally or through their writings during his time at Black Mountain College.
He also creates the seven-part "Dooms Day Flotilla" in 1982, which is related to the Gondolas and explores similar themes and concepts.
He participates in the extensive survey exhibition titled "Westkunst: Zeitgenössische Kunst seit 1939," organized by the Museen der Stadt Köln and curated by Kasper König. The exhibition takes place at the Rheinhallen der Kölner Messe in Cologne. Chamberlain's works featured in the exhibition include "Essex" from 1960 and "Exciter" (also known as "White Shadow") from 1962.
Chamberlain's artwork "American Barge" (1979) gains appreciation from visitors as it graces the entrance of the exhibition. This enormous foam couch features televisions displaying a continuous loop of a 50-minute videotape containing a mix of seventy-five American television commercials. Additionally, the tape includes ten satirical commercials created by Chamberlain's friend, director James Signorelli, for the sketch comedy show "Saturday Night Live."
July 9-September 13: Participates in the exhibition "Large or Small, Bronze or Wood, Painted or Plain: Problems and Solutions in Sculpture" at the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, Virginia. The exhibition features Chamberlain's untitled work from 1973 (JCCR 453). The exhibition brochure provides an insightful description of Chamberlain's foil sculptures, highlighting how he manipulates aluminum into a luminous mass, creating intricate facets that play with light and shadows, reminiscent of the folds seen in traditional drapery sculptures.
Throughout this period, Chamberlain amasses a collection of Tonka Toys, which he plans to utilize in the creation of small-scale sculptures known as "Tonks" over the following years.
John Chamberlain, Memorial to Lost Souls at Sea, 1980-81
1982
March 19, 1982-February 23, 1985: the artist's former studio at 67 Vestry Street, New York, opened to the public with an extended exhibition of his sculpture, operated by the Dia Art Foundation. The exhibition showcased twenty metal sculptures from 1975 to 1981, along with a series of fifteen works on paper titled "Drawings in the Manner of a Lithograph" (1978) and the foam couch "Thordis' Barge" (1980-81).
June 19-September 28: Participates in Documenta 7 in Kassel, Germany, where his sculptures "Gondola Hart Crane" and "Gondola Marianne Moore" were featured.
June 27-November 1982, May-November 1983, and May-November 1984: the Dia Art Foundation presented an outdoor exhibition of Chamberlain's sculptures at his former residence in Essex, Connecticut. Notable among these works was the site-specific "Memorial to Lost Souls at Sea" (1980-81).
He also participated in various group exhibitions, including "The New York School: Four Decades" at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and "The Americans: The Collage" at the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston.
In late October 1982, he participated in the exhibition "In Our Time: Houston's Contemporary Arts Museum 1948-1982" at the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston.
n November, he exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York, showcasing ten sculptures, some featuring a giraffe-skin pattern resulting from sand-blasting, a new technique Chamberlain had started using.
He received a commission from the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park at Governors State University to create an outdoor sculpture. The resulting artwork, "A Virgin Smile" (1982), was installed on the park's grounds until 1998.
Overall, Chamberlain's year was characterized by engaging exhibitions, innovative techniques, and diverse artistic endeavors that continued to showcase his evolving artistic style and creativity.
John Chamberlain, Dhuha Ditty, 1983
1983
January 8-18: Participates in an exhibition at Städtische Kunsthalle in Düsseldorf alongside other artists. His works on display included "Dakota Grass," "Bentley Last," "Chopped Lip," "Full Quartz," "Piece Pockets," and "Gondola Hart Crane."
January 28-March 27: Has a major solo exhibition titled "John Chamberlain: Reliefs 1960-1982" at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida. This marked his first major solo American museum exhibition since the 1971 Guggenheim retrospective.
April 8-May 11: Participates in the inaugural exhibition "20th Century Sculpture: Process and Presence" at the Whitney Museum of American Art at Philip Morris in New York. For this, Chamberlain created the sculpture "City Lux."
He also participated in various exhibitions such as "Free Wheeling: Art and the Automobile" at Squibb Gallery in Princeton, "De Statua" at Stedeliik Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, Netherlands, and "Found Objects" at Marisa del Re Gallery in New York, showcasing works like "Wrinkled Porker," "Toasted Hitlers," and "Full Quartz."
May: a permanent exhibition of Chamberlain's sculptures was installed in the Wool and Mohair Building in Marfa, Texas, as part of the Marfa Project, which eventually became the Chinati Foundation.
He participated in several other exhibitions, including "The Nuclear Age: Tradition and Transition" at Phoenix Art Museum, "Sculpture: The Tradition in Steel" at Nassau County Museum of Fine Arts, "American/European Painting and Sculpture, Part II" at L.A. Louver Gallery, and "In Honor of de Kooning" at Xavier Fourcade gallery.
Xavier Fourcade became Chamberlain's primary New York gallerist, a role he held until his death in 1987.