Megan and Murray McMillan

One of the best features of the Chinati Foundation is the opportunity to see a large grouping of one artist’s work, often in situ, without the distraction of competing artists’ work and the resulting forced academic comparisions. John Chamberlain is one of the “big three” artists at the foundation (along with Judd, of course, and Dan Flavin). It’s a rare and pleasurable opportunity to see whole buildings full of his work — much of which is large and cumbersome, and usually only represented by one or two pieces in museum collections. One of my favorite surprises during our trip in December was the small series of buildings that contained his photos — the blurred, in motion, streaked light of travel shots, of Paris, of circuses — in compositions that match in two dimensions what he accomplishes later, so beautifully, in three.

This month, Chinati is sponsoring a weekend-long symposium on Chamberlain’s work, featuring a whole roster of exemplary speakers, including Klaus Kertess, Steve Nash, and Donna De Salvo. Richard Shiff, director of the Center for the Study of Modernism at The University of Texas at Austin (and Murray’s favorite modern art history professor during grad school), is the moderator.

It’s All in the Fit: The Work of John Chamberlain
April 22-23, Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas