Stephen Chambers (born 1960) is a British artist and Royal Academician (elected 2005).
Education and career
Chambers studied at
Winchester School of Art
Winchester School of Art is the art school of the University of Southampton, situated 10 miles (14 km) north of Southampton in the city of Winchester near the south coast of England.
History
The Winchester School of Art was founded in 18 ...
from 1978 to 1979 and at
Saint Martin's School of Art
Saint Martin's School of Art was an art college in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1854, initially under the aegis of the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Saint Martin's became part of ...
, from 1979 to 1982.
in 1983, he received a master's degree from Chelsea School of Art.
He has won many scholarships and awards, including a
Rome Scholarship, a Fellowship at Winchester School of Art, and a
Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko (), born Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz (russian: Ма́ркус Я́ковлевич Ротко́вич, link=no, lv, Markuss Rotkovičs, link=no; name not Anglicized until 1940; September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970), was a Lat ...
Memorial Trust Travelling Award.
From 1998 to 1989, Chambers was the Kettle’s Yard/
Downing College
Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 650 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the olde ...
Cambridge Fellow. In 2016, he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from Downing College in the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
.
He has exhibited widely, with more than 40 solo presentations, including ''The Big Country'' at the
Royal Academy of Arts
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purp ...
, London, in 2012,
and at the
Pera Museum
Pera Museum (Turkish: ''Pera Müzesi'') is an art museum in the Tepebaşı quarter of the Beyoğlu (Pera) district in Istanbul, Turkey, at Meşrutiyet Avenue No. 65 (adjacent to İstiklal Avenue and in close proximity to Taksim Square.) It ...
, Istanbul, in 2014.
His work is held in many international collections including
Arts Council England;
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...
, London;
Downing College, Cambridge;
Government Art Collection
The Government Art Collection (GAC) is the collection of artworks owned by the UK government and administered by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The GAC's artworks are used to decorate major government buildings in t ...
, London;
Metropolitan Museum
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, New York; Pera Museum, Istanbul, and the
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and ...
, London.
He has collaborated with
Ashley Page
Ashley Page OBE (born August 1956) is a British former ballet dancer, choreographer and was artistic director of Scottish Ballet for ten years.
Ashley Page was born in Rochester, Kent in August 1956.
Page trained the Royal Ballet School, and jo ...
and
Orlando Gough
Orlando Gough ( ; born 1953 in Brighton, Sussex) is a British composer, educated at Oxford, and noted for projects written for ballet, contemporary dance and theatre. Collaborators have included Siobhan Davies, Alain Platel, Shobana Jeyasingh a ...
on three contemporary dance productions for
The Royal Ballet
The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded ...
, London: ''Sleeping with Audrey'' (1996),''Room of Cooks'' (1997,1999), and ''This House Will Burn'' (2001).
According to the artist, his work “''speaks of states of mind, behaviours and sensibilities''.” Critics have praised Chamber’s use of colour and his painterly exploration of his medium.
In May 2017, Chambers staged an exhibition entitled ''The Court of Redonda'' as an official collateral event at the Biennale Arte 2017 (
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
). The exhibition took its name from the literary legend of the
Kingdom of Redonda
The Kingdom of Redonda is the name for the micronation associated with the tiny uninhabited Caribbean island of Redonda.
The island lies between the islands of Nevis and Montserrat, within the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain, in the ...
, to which Chambers was introduced by the writings of the Spanish novelist
Javier Marías
Javier Marías Franco (20 September 1951 – 11 September 2022) was a Spanish author, translator, and columnist. Marías published fifteen novels, including ''A Heart So White'' (''Corazón tan blanco,'' 1992'')'' and ''Tomorrow in the Battle T ...
.
Following the Venice exhibition, Chambers was awarded the title of Viscount Biennale of Redonda, and his Redondan works featured in 2018 at The Heong Gallery at
Downing College, Cambridge.
References
External links
Stephenchambers.com*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chambers, Stephen
1960 births
Living people
British male artists
Royal Academicians