- 181
John Chamberlain
Description
- John Chamberlain
- Ramfeezled Shiggers
- painted and chromium plated steel
- 106 by 72 by 55 in. 269.2 by 182.9 by 139.7 cm.
- Executed in 1991.
Provenance
Acquired from the above by the present owner in March 1991
Exhibited
Condition
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
It was in 1958 that Chamberlain first took the radical step of appropriating abandoned car parts. Finding an old Ford truck in the garage of a house his family was renting, the sculptor crushed the fenders with his own car then welded the remains together, forming a totally original creation. Inspired by the New York School and specifically, the free-form style of the Abstract Expressionists, Chamberlain introduced automobile metal and color and challenged prevailing ideas of sculpture as a solid mass. Across its rippled folds and through its brilliant flashes of color, we see the influence of his friends, Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline. Chamberlain is able to craft elegance through a medium which he describes as, “the detritus of American consumerism” (the artist in Julie Sylvester, Ed., John Chamberlain: A Catalogue Raisonne of the Sculpture 1954-1985, Los Angles 1986). These warped segments of trashed car parts are recycled remnants of the ultimate toy and hallmark of the ‘American Dream.’
Fascinated by the innate sound and appearance of words, Chamberlain’s titles frequently feature a memorable conjunction of disparate phrases or words, such as the title of this work: Ramfeezled Shiggers. The jumbled arrangement of words and sounds mimics the process to which his contorted forms are developed. Here, Chamberlain stunningly transforms auto metal into fluid volumes of energy, gesture and technicolor.