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Artworks
Stephen Chambers
Berlin Flowers (Rhodes' Vase), 2020Oil on linen75 x 85 x 5 cm©Stephen Chambers£25,000Further images
Royal Academician Stephen Chambers’ paintings and prints frequently explore real or fictitious characters, and the possible dialogues between them. Historical explorers, ancient goddesses, contemporary politicians and figures from folklore populate his narratives, silhouetted against meticulously patterned backgrounds that act as a form of unifying veil.
Royal Academician Stephen Chambers’ paintings and prints frequently explore real or fictitious characters, and the possible dialogues between them. Historical explorers, ancient goddesses, contemporary politicians and figures from folklore populate his narratives, silhouetted against meticulously patterned backgrounds that act as a form of unifying veil.
Recently, Chambers has started making monthly paintings of flowers in his studio in Berlin; he describes this body of work as ‘a record of the year through florets’. For Chambers, paintings of flowers historically sit ‘low in the credibility hierarchy’ but this is precisely why they pique his interest in the same way as the characters that have previously inhabited his imagery. ‘If I can take the most familiar of subjects, and give it identity and autonomy, then that is gravitas. They are, in that sense, empowerment of the underclass’.
Chambers trained at Central St Martin's and Chelsea School of Art. He was elected a Royal Academician in 2005. He has exhibited internationally; major projects include The Court of Redonda, shown during the 2017 Venice Biennale. In 2012 he made a monumental printed work The Big Country, which was shown at the Royal Academy of Arts and then at the Pera Museum, Istanbul. His work is held in many major national and international collections. He lives and works in Berlin and London.
