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John Chamberlain, in full John Angus Chamberlain, was an American sculptor, painter, photographer, printmaker, and filmmaker whose Abstract Expressionist works were characterized by an emotional approach to concept and execution. 

Chamberlain studied at the Art Institute of Chicago (1951–52), where he began working in metals, and at Black Mountain College in North Carolina (1955–56). In 1957 he had his first one-man show in Chicago. His early pieces were made from welded iron rods, but he later used such materials as heat-shaped Plexiglass, paper, polyurethane, industrial rubber, brown paper bags, and aluminum foil before returning in 1974 to the use of auto body parts. His first sculpture to employ car parts was Shortstop (1957), which featured rusty fenders that he had found in the yard of painter and friend Larry Rivers. 

Chamberlain’s sculptures are typified by Mr. Press (1961), a construction of fragments from automobiles, crumpled and jammed together to create an effect of isolated, frozen movement. He often coated his pieces with bright industrial paints. During the 1970s oil crisis, Chamberlain often incorporated oil barrels into his work, notably in the series Socket and Kiss (1979). For a brief interlude, he used car spray paint to create works that combined stencil and Action painting. Chamberlain was also involved in video and film and produced the cinematic Wide Point (1968); he later dabbled in drawing and printmaking. 

In 1971 Chamberlain’s work was given a retrospective by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City.

Find John Chamberlain art for sale on 1stDibs.

(Biography provided by Graves International Art)

Explore a vast range of abstract prints on 1stDibs to find a piece to enhance your existing collection or transform a space.

Unlike figurative paintings and other figurative art, which focuses on realism and representational perspectives, abstract art concentrates on visual interpretation. An artist may use a single color or simple geometric forms to create a world of depth. Printmaking has a rich history of abstraction. Through materials like stone, metal, wood and wax, an image can be transferred from one surface to another.

During the 19th century, iconic artists, including Edvard Munch, Paul Cézanne, Georgiana Houghton and others, began exploring works based on shapes and colors. This was a departure from the academic conventions of European painting and would influence the rise of 20th-century abstraction and its pioneers, like Pablo Picasso and Piet Mondrian.

Some leaders of European abstraction, including Franz Kline, were influenced by the gestural shapes of East Asian calligraphy. Calligraphy interprets poetry, songs, symbols or other means of storytelling into art, from works on paper in Japan to elements of Islamic architecture.

Bold, daring and expressive, abstract art is constantly evolving and dazzling viewers. And entire genres have blossomed from it, such as Color Field painting and Minimalism.

The collection of abstract art prints on 1stDibs includes etchings, lithographs, screen-prints and other works, and you can find prints by artists such as Joan Miró, Alexander Calder and more.