1984 - 1986
John Chamberlain, American Tableau, 1984
1984
January 26-March 31: Holds an exhibition titled "John Chamberlain/ Esculturas" at Palacio de Cristal, Parque del Retiro, Madrid, showcasing twenty sculptures from 1976-82 and the foam couch "American Barge" (1979).
February 25-March 31: Presents a new sculpture exhibition, "John Chamberlain: New Sculpture," at Xavier Fourcade in New York.
February 26-April 29: Participates in "The Tremaine Collection: 20th Century Masters, The Spirit of Modernism" at Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut, exhibiting works like "Gramm," "Arch Brown," and "Sinclair."
March 5-17: Displays his drawings in an exhibition titled "John Chamberlain: Drawings" at Galerie Fred Jahn in Munich.
March 28-April 29: Participates in "Alan Saret/John Chamberlain Contemporary Sculpture" at University Art Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara, showcasing various sculptures including "Hard Alee," "Kiss #14," "Crown Top," and more.
March 30-May 30: Participates in "Autoscape: The Automobile in the American Landscape" at Whitney Museum of American Art, Fairfield County, Stamford, Connecticut, showcasing "Jackpot."
April 1-May 27: Takes part in "Experiment Sammlung I: Une collection imaginaire" at Kunstmuseum Winterthur in Winterthur, Switzerland, displaying "Dandy Dan-D."
April 8-June 24: Participates in "Indiana Influence: The Golden Age of Indiana Landscape Painting, Indiana's Modern Legacy" at Fort Wayne Museum of Art in Fort Wayne, Indiana, showcasing sculptures "Idle Worship" and "Impurient Whey."
April 18-July 30: Participates in "La rime et la raison: Les collections Menil (Houston-New York)" at Grand Palais in Paris, featuring works like "Nanoweap," "Toasted Hitlers," and "Hit Height Lear."
April 23-May 24: Holds an exhibition titled "John Chamberlain: Tonks" at Galerie Helen van der Mei in Amsterdam.
April 26: Receives the Brandeis University Creative Arts Award medal for lifetime achievement at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.
July 21, 1984-January 6, 1985: Participates in "Automobile and Culture" at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, displaying "Rayvredd."
July 25-August 25: Participates in a group exhibition with Richard Artschwager, Donald Judd, and others at Daniel Weinberg Gallery in Los Angeles.
July 29-September 23: Takes part in "Forming" at Parrish Art Museum in Southampton, New York, showcasing sculptures like "Latino Disco" and "Wonkong Melong."
August 28-October 5: Participates in "Ein anderes Klima" at Städtische Kunsthalle in Düsseldorf.
September 12-November 10: Installs "American Tableau," his largest sculpture at that time, at Seagram Plaza in New York. This monumental work is later acquired by The Menil Collection in Houston.
September 24-November 30: Participates in "Contemporary Painting and Sculpture V: 1957-1984" at Oil and Steel Gallery in New York, displaying "Deadeye Dick."
November 8-27: Holds an exhibition titled "John Chamberlain: Selected Prints" at Marian Goodman Gallery in New York.
November 17-December 23: Presents a sculpture exhibition, "John Chamberlain: Skulpturen 1980-1983," at Galerie Rudolf Zwirner in Cologne.
December 6, 1984-March 3, 1985: Participates in "The Third Dimension: Sculpture of the New York School" at Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, showcasing "Cord" and "Johnny Bird."
Additionally, in 1984, Chamberlain completes twenty monotypes for a series titled "Gondolas" and continues to work on subsequent series of monotypes, reflecting his ongoing engagement with artistic expression through different mediums.
John Chamberlain, Twisted Comet, 1985
1985
Mid-1980s: Chamberlain begins purchasing van tops at low cost and incorporates them into his sculptures. These van tops are cut into strips, often painted with elaborate patterns, and shaped into tubes or rosettes using various metal-working machinery. This material becomes a prominent feature in his works over the next two decades.
March 2-30: Holds an exhibition at Margo Leavin Gallery in Los Angeles.
May 6-June 15: Participates in "Art," a series of themed environments for the nightclub Area in Tribeca, New York. His sculpture "Trumpery Praxis" (1984) is displayed near the entrance along with works by other artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Andy Warhol.
May 9-June 9: Participates in "Mile 4," an invitational exhibition by Chicago Sculpture International held on State Street Mall in Chicago. His sculpture "Leaning Tower of Youth" (1985) is featured.
June 6-July 13: Holds an exhibition at Galerie Gillespie-Laage-Salomon in Paris, displaying various sculptures including "Andrea Florentina Luchezzi," "Fredrico Alonzo Morelli," "In Diana," and two untitled works from 1985.
Summer: Serves as a resident artist (faculty member) at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Skowhegan, Maine. Imparts advice to students such as "Take care of your health, get good jobs, and get laid a lot."
July 11-13: Serves as the grand marshal for the sesquicentennial parade at the Fulton County Round Barn Festival in Rochester, Indiana, his birthplace.
November 20, 1985-January 11, 1986: Participates in "The Comet Show" at Light Gallery in New York, an exhibition organized to celebrate the appearance of Halley's Comet. He creates a small aluminum-and-ink sculpture titled "Twisted Comet" (1985) for the occasion.
November 22, 1985-February 6, 1986: Participates in "Transformations in Sculpture: Four Decades of American and European Art" at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. His sculptures "Dolores James" and "Velvet White," both from 1962, are on display as part of the exhibition.
John Chamberlain, Cocola L.A. (Dedicated to Mickey Ruskin)
1986
January 12 - March 30: Participated in "An American Renaissance: Painting and Sculpture Since 1940," the inaugural exhibition of the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His sculpture "Lorelei's Passion" from 1982 was featured.
March 6 - 27: Held an exhibition titled "John Chamberlain: Oils" at Galerie Fred Jahn in Munich, which later traveled to Galerie Rudolf Zwirner in Cologne (May 21 - June 28) and Brooke Alexander in New York (September 13 - October 25). This exhibition showcased the MAAB series of paintings on paper (1971) in its entirety for the first time.
June 27 - September 12: "In Honor of John Chamberlain" was organized by Xavier Fourcade in New York to celebrate the upcoming retrospective exhibition in Los Angeles. Artists like Willem de Kooning, Dan Flavin, Jasper Johns, Donald Judd, Malcolm Morley, and Frank Stella participated.
July 19 - August 28: Held a sculpture exhibition at Margo Leavin Gallery in Los Angeles.
July 30 - October 5: Presented his second U.S. retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Accompanied by Julie Sylvester's catalog raisonné of Chamberlain's sculpture up to 1986, the exhibition took place at the Temporary Contemporary, a building renovated by the architect Frank Gehry. The show featured nearly one hundred works in various mediums, including painting and drawing. For this occasion, Chamberlain created the five-part standing sculpture "Straits of Night" (1986) and a new foam couch. Critics praised his ability to infuse color and physicality into his materials, and his sculptures were noted for their poetic and romantic qualities.