An Introduction to the Paintings of John Chambers
The second half of the twentieth century saw changes in political and social reform that revitalised the arts. The arts representing society acted as a filter for the expression of common experience, based on observation. This was very much a European movement embracing a wide range of artistic interpretation. The central theme throughout was a social realism that was a platform for a new beginning. this was a period that encapsulated and identified the artist with the post-war era. Chambers' painting reflects the new freedom for creative adventure that characterised this era, an era that was fundamental to his development towards establishing a language of representational significance.
A constructivist ideology combined with the ordinary principles of painting are paramount to his working procedures. Throughout he allows the material to dictate the conditions in which the subject exists. Either in a subsidiary or dominant role, colour complies with a geometric structure that in itself is controlled by a base or field colour. It is within these parameters that Chambers develops the confiuration that eventually realises the image.
David Fergusson July 2010