RCA
1931 - 1978
Canadian
One-Sided Toy Box
oil and graphite on paper on board
signed, titled and dated 1967 and on verso signed, titled, dated on the gallery label and inscribed variously
30 1/8 x 42 in, 76.5 x 106.7 cm
Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000 CAD
Preview at: Heffel Toronto – 13 Hazelton Ave
PROVENANCE
Dr. and Mrs. M.L. Robinson, London
Thielsen Gallery, London
Private Collection, London
LITERATURE
Jack Chambers: A Retrospective, Vancouver Art Gallery and Art Gallery of Ontario, 1970, listed, catalogue #84
EXHIBITED
Vancouver Art Gallery, Jack Chambers: A Retrospective, September 23 - October 18, 1970, travelling to Art Gallery of Ontario November 7 - December 6, 1970, catalogue #84
Jack Chambers has a unique, nearly incomparable place in Canadian Art history. Via various engagements with realism and surrealism, Chambers developed a process he termed “perceptualism.” While realist in part, rather than an attempt to describe the external reality of an object, its goal was a description of the internal experience of perceiving the object. What this nuanced yet acute difference renders is a deeply personal expression of experience within the structures of classical drawing and painting.
While this approach is present here, there is also a notably filmic quality to this work. The figure, scene, and text feel subject to montage, while the format itself is akin to a frame on a film strip—complete with a soundtrack along the left side. Chambers was, at this point in his career, deeply involved with experimental filmmaking and its relationships to representation and perception. While Chamber’s engagement with film was relatively short-lived, his feature-length “Hart of London” (1970) is a towering contribution to avant-garde cinema. In all, “One-Sided Toy Box” speaks directly to multiple facets of a unique, profoundly conceptual, and technically virtuosic practice.
Please note: this work is contained in a frame made by the artist. The listed dimensions include the frame.
All prices are in Canadian Dollars
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