Dia: Beacon

John Chamberlain was born in 1927 in Rochester, Indiana, but grew up in Chicago. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, and then Black Mountain College. In his work, he uses a lot of scrap metal, specifically car parts. His first work using car parts was "Shortstop" in 1957. His work has been displayed at the Museum of Modern art, The Guggenheim Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary art. Some of his influences are Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline.



This piece, "The Privet," caught my attention right away. I first noticed it because of its size, but when I looked at it closer, I saw that it was a very intricately made piece. Each strip of metal had a different pattern, and the strips were all interwoven. I could tell the artist paid great attention to detail, but at the same time, the piece did not look too intentional. I liked the way all the different strips came together collectively to make this piece.