We are pleased to announce the representation of New Haven-based artist Dominic Chambers. Chambers’s first solo presentation at Lehmann Maupin will open in February 2022 at our New York location as part of the gallery’s In Focus series. His work will also be featured in our upcoming presentation at Art Basel Miami Beach in December. Lehmann Maupin first presented Chambers’ work during Frieze New York 2021 and concurrently at the gallery’s onsite presentation, Frieze New York Annex. Currently, his work is included in the group exhibition Black Bodies, White Spaces: Invisibility & Hypervisibility, curated by Aindrea Emelife at newly-opened Green Family Art Foundation, Dallas, TX. The artist is also represented by Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, and Luce Gallery, Turin.
In recent years, Chambers has gained recognition for his vibrant paintings that simultaneously engage art historical models, such as color-field painting and gestural abstraction, and contemporary concerns around race, identity, and the necessity for leisure and reflection. Interested in how art can function as a mode for understanding, recontextualizing, or renegotiating one’s relationship to the world, the artist sees painting as a critical and intellectual endeavour, as much as an aesthetic one.
A writer himself, Chambers draws inspiration from literature, especially Magical Realism and the writing of W.E.B. Du Bois, particularly Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk, and one of its central themes―the veil. A product of racial injustice and a metaphorical lens through which Black bodies are observed and experienced, veil appears as a reference throughout the artist’s work, whether in the large swaths of color that obscure the figures in his Wash Paintings series, or in his recurring use of a raindrop motif as both an active and passive element in his paintings. Many of Chambers’ compositions incorporate Fabulist elements, including ghostly silhouettes meant to be stand-ins for the artist, and surreal landscapes that feel both familiar yet unplaceable.
David Maupin, co-founder, states, “Dominic’s work unites the theoretical and the emotional. In rich surfaces worked over time, Dominic creates imaginary spaces for his figures that allow us to reimagine the subjects, and in turn, grant them particular autonomy. His interest in color theory binds him to the canon as he seeks to push the boundaries of his medium and expand the scope of his own practice.”
“I vividly remember the first time I experienced Dominic's work in person,” recalls Senior Director Fionna Flaherty. “Engaging deeply not only with art history, but also with literature and with theory, Dominic's paintings vibrate with an intensity and poetry of layers. His works simultaneously take up intellectual pursuits as well as aesthetic ones—for Dominic, the two are inextricable. There is power in the stillness he creates in his work, and he is a visionary voice among his peers. We are thrilled to be working with Dominic and look forward to placing him in dialogue with other artists in our program.”
The artist states, “Lehmann Maupin's twenty-five-year commitment to both artistic and cultural history, in addition to their extensive record of fostering the careers of some of the most dynamic, culturally relevant, and prodigious artists of our time, resonated with me. I am deeply excited to collaborate with the numerous esteemed artists in the program such as Teresita Fernández, Angel Otero, Calida Rawles, and Nari Ward.”
About the Artist
Chambers received his B.F.A from Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Milwaukee, WI in 2016, and his M.F.A. from Yale University School of Art, New Haven, CT in 2019. Solo exhibitions of his work have been organized at The August Wilson African American Cultural Center, Pittsburgh, PA (2020); Luce Gallery, Turin, Italy (2020); The Millitzer Studio and Gallery, St. Louis, MO (2017); and the Residential Gallery, Des Moines, IA (2017). Select group exhibitions featuring his work include Black Bodies, White Spaces: Invisibility & Hypervisibility, Green Family Foundation, Dallas, TX (2021); Realms of Refuge, Kavi Gupta, Chicago, IL (2021); Art Finds a Way, Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL (2020); Synchronicity, Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, CA (2020); Abstractions of Black Citizenship: African American Art from Saint Louis, Hedreen Gallery, Seattle University, Seattle, WA (2020); Painting Is Its Own Country, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, Charlotte, NC (2019); Chambers & Weinberg, Hawthorn Contemporary, Milwaukee, WI (2019); Again, Always, Green Hall Gallery, Yale University, New Haven, CT (2019); Between Two Worlds, Band of Vices, Los Angeles, CA (2019); Interwoven, Kravets Wehby Gallery, New York, NY (2018); Water & Dreams, The Green Gallery, Milwaukee, WI and Chicken Coop Contemporary, Portland, OR (2017); NOW Figuration, Portrait Society Gallery of Contemporary Art, Milwaukee, WI (2017); Bridge Work 02: From Memory to Metaphor, Arts + Literature Laboratory, Madison, WI (2017); Post Mode 2.0, John Fonda Gallery, Baltimore, MD (2016); Bridge Work 02: From Memory to Metaphor, The Pitch Project Gallery, Milwaukee, WI (2016); Post Mode, NYSRP Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (2015); Final Exhibition, Yale Norfolk School of Art, Norfolk, CT (2015); Deconstructing the Local, MIAD Galleries, Milwaukee, WI (2014); Progress, Contemporary Art Gallery, St. Louis Community College – Florissant Valley, St. Louis, MO (2013); and Varsity Art XVIII, Art Saint Louis, St. Louis, MO (2013).
Chambers is the recipient of the Robert Reed Drawing Scholarship, Yale University (2018); Ellen Battell Stoeckel Fellowship, Yale Norfolk School of Art (awarded through Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design) (2015); and the Varsity Art XVIII Award, St. Louis Community College – Florissant Valley, St. Louis, MO (2014). He has completed residences at the New York Studio Residency Program, Brooklyn, NY (2015), and the Yale Norfolk School of Art (2015).
About In Focus
In Focus presentations are a recent addition to the Lehmann Maupin program that allow the gallery to highlight a crucial aspect of an artist’s practice. These installations offer public access to recent, or timely and significant works by the gallery’s artists and provide greater flexibility for Lehmann Maupin to contextualize its growing international program. Installed in the gallery at 501 West 24th Street or showcased online, these presentations run concurrently with the gallery’s existing exhibition program.
Read more in ARTnews
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Above: Artist portrait by Daniel Kukla