John Chamberlain — Photographs — Karsten Greve Gallery — Exhibition — Slash Paris

Past: July 12 → September 1, 2012

Galerie Karsten Greve, dedicates to John Chamberlain, one of America’s most important and active artists, a comprehensive exhibition of his photographs.

Since the beginning of the 1960s, Chamberlain created sculptures by using mostly colourfully painted automobile metal. During this time he also began taking photographs, a medium he continued to explore. His works range from small-scale and fragile objects, to huge sculptures of great presence. Representing John Chamberlain for over 30 years, Galerie Karsten Greve has exhibited his photographs and sculptures since the 1980s.

This exhibition presents, among others, a series of photographs, the artist captured in Paris in the late 1980s. These were taken while walking in the street, near the Eiffel Tower, while dinning in local brasseries or in the most popular restaurants such as Laperouse.

Chamberlain appears in many of his photographs: he plays with the camera, being at the same time author and protagonist of his shoots. Since he was accustomed to moving the camera whilst the shutter was opened, the images seem to show places in motion and the spectator loses perception of space.

This ‘bending of the space’ constitutes a significant parallel to the formal principles of his sculptural work. Chamberlain’s practice does not follow a strict plan, it cannot be completely included in a defined artistic movement, it remains absolutely unique in its own way.