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Aalto + Chamberlain Aalto Aalto Aalto + Chamberlain Exhibition Checklist John Chamberlain 101 Spring Street (from left to right) November 21, 2019–January 18, 2020 Zia, 1964 Public hours: Metal and lacquer with reflective flake on fiberboard Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays 68 1/4 × 68 1/4 × 5 inches (173.4 × 173.4 × 12.7 cm) 1:00–5:30pm [untitled], 1964 Aalto + Chamberlain is made possible Metal and lacquer with reflective flake on fiberboard + with support from George Economou. 68 1/4 × 68 1/4 × 5 inches (173.4 × 173.4 × 12.7 cm) Additional support is provided Chamberlain by Artek. [untitled], 1964 Metal and lacquer with reflective flake on fiberboard 68 1/4 × 68 1/4 × 5 inches (173.4 × 173.4 × 12.7 cm) Toureiro, 1964 Judd Foundation and the Finnish Cultural Metal and lacquer with reflective flake on fiberboard Institute are pleased to present a conversation 68 1/4 × 68 1/4 × 5 inches (173.4 × 173.4 × 12.7 cm) on Alvar Aalto with Sir David Adjaye, Marianne Goebl, Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen, Rock-Ola, 1964 moderated by Caitlin Murray, Director of Metal and lacquer with reflective flake on fiberboard Archives and Programs at Judd Foundation. 68 1/4 × 68 1/4 × 5 inches (173.4 × 173.4 × 12.7 cm) January 16 [untitled], 1964 6:00pm Metal and lacquer with reflective flake on fiberboard 68 1/4 × 68 1/4 × 5 inches (173.4 × 173.4 × 12.7 cm) Conrad, 1964 Chromed steel and auto lacquer and metalflake on Formica 67 × 67 × 4 3/4nches i (170.2 × 170.2 × 12.1 cm) Dia Art Foundation Alvar Aalto Artek Table 81C, 1935 Square black linoleum table top with birch L-legs Artek Table 91,1935 Circular black linoleum table top with birch L-legs Artek Stool 60, 1933 Seat in black linoleum with birch L-legs Artek Chair 66, 1935 Seat in black linoleum with birch L-legs and backrest Artek Armchair 400 “Tank”, 1936 Birch armrests with Zebra upholstery Artek Armchair 41 “Paimio”, 1931–32 Seat in birch with black lacquer with birch armrests Artek Armchair 42, 1932 Seat in birch with black lacquer with birch armrests Artek 2nd Cycle Folding Table, 1935 Drop-leaf table with birch L-legs Particular model produced in the 1930s Photo: Timothy Doyon © Judd Foundation. John Chamberlain © 2019 Fairweather & Fairweather LTD / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. November 21 – January 18 November In 1990, Donald Judd acquired the Glas- John Chamberlain Alvar Aalto cock Building in Marfa, Texas, a two- story building from the late nineteenth During his lifetime, John Chamberlain Alvar Aalto (1898–1976) enjoyed an century which he designated as his Archi- (1927–2011) was perhaps best known exceptionally rich and varied career as an tecture Office. Judd used the ground floor for his distinctive metal sculptures con- architect and a founder of Artek, both as the office and the second floor as guest structed from discarded automobile- at home in Finland and abroad. After housing in which he installed paintings body parts and other industrial detritus, qualifying as an architect from Helsinki by John Chamberlain, furniture by Alvar which he began making in the late 1950s. Institute of Technology in 1921, Aalto set Aalto, and furniture of his own design. While freely experimenting with other up his first architectural practice in For Judd, the making and viewing of materials—from galvanized steel and pa- Jyväskylä. From the late 1930s onwards, art were coextensive with the other activ- per bags to Plexiglas and urethane foam— the architectural expression of Aalto’s ities of living. Moreover, the ability to he consistently returned to metal car com- buildings became enriched by the use of live with art was partially dependent on ponents, which he humorously termed organic forms, natural materials, and in- the ability to be comfortable. By placing “art supplies.” His singular method of put- creasing freedom in the handling of space. Aalto furniture and Chamberlain paint- ting these elements together led to his It was characteristic of Aalto to treat ings together, Judd created what was for inclusion in the paradigmatic exhibition each building as a complete work of art. him, a natural situation for viewing art in The Art of Assemblage, at the Museum of In 1935, Artek was formed by Alvar which one could, “sit there and have a Modern Art in 1961, where his work was and his wife Aino Aalto, Maire Gullichsen, drink, or eat, or lie down, or read” and shown alongside modern masters such and Nils-Gustav Hahl to promote the then “look at the work.” “I think you as Marcel Duchamp and Pablo Picasso. growing production and sales of Aalto look at it, think about it, do something Chamberlain’s focus on discovered or furniture. The design of his furniture else, then look at it again, or you talk and spontaneous correlations between materi- combined practicality and aesthetics with look at it”, he continued, “It becomes a als has prompted the interpretation of series production, following the main normal thing.” his work as a kind of three-dimensional Artek idea of encouraging a more beauti- In 2018, Judd Foundation began an Abstract Expressionism. ful everyday life in the home. It has been extensive restoration of the Architecture John Chamberlain was born in 1927 estimated that during his career Aalto Office. As part of the restoration, the in Rochester, Indiana, and died in 2011 in designed over 500 individual buildings, Foundation completed conservation New York. He attended the Art Institute approximately 300 of which were built, treatment of the Chamberlain paintings, of Chicago from 1951 to 1952, and Black the vast majority of which are in Finland. which are to be reinstalled on a perma- Mountain College, North Carolina, from Additionally, Aalto was influential in nent basis on the second floor. This 1955 to 1956. Chamberlain’s first retro- bringing modern art to the knowledge of exhibition results from and celebrates spective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim the Finnish people, in particular the work The distinctive paint which John In a note from September 6, 1979, Alvar Aalto’s furniture production Both Donald Judd and Aalto designed these efforts by showing the work of Museum, New York (1971) was followed of his friends, Alexander Milne Calder Chamberlain used to make the four-by- Donald Judd lauded Chamberlain’s work, evolved as an integral part of his architec- furniture for particular buildings, with Chamberlain and Aalto in combination. by more than one hundred solo exhibi- and Fernand Léger. four-foot paintings is composed of succes- arguing that “ever since he began work- tural practice, “deriving from his desire notable attention paid to function. As tions, including John Chamberlain: Notable buildings by Aalto include: sive layers of transparent lacquer with ing Chamberlain has been one of the best for a comprehensive design conceived as Aalto wrote in 1954, “My furniture is reflective flake. As Chamberlain noted, he artists in the world. He has not been a total concept from townscape down to seldom, if ever, the result of professional Sculpture, An Extended Exhibition, Dia Art the Municipal Library, Viipuri, Finland, wanted to “bury the flake and make it look treated as such.” “From the early sculpture the door knob.” His production of stan- design work. Almost without exception, Foundation, New York (1982–85); John 1927–1935 (now Vyborg, Russia); Paimio suspended.” To this surface, he then at- of the late 1950s to now is twenty years, dard furniture spanned from 1929 to I have done them as part of an architec- Chamberlain: Sculpture, 1954–1985, Museum Sanatorium, Paimio, Finland, 1928– tached two right-angled metal bars. Of a long time for high work.” He continued, 1959 and, with the formation of Artek in tonic wholeness, in the mixed society of particular interest to Chamberlain was the “This work not only includes the well- 1935, his furniture became widely avail- public buildings, aristocratic residences of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (1986); 1933; Villa Mairea, Noormarkku Finland, multitude of optical effects produced by known metal sculptures, but also the able internationally, as it remains today. and workers’ cottages, as an accompani- John Chamberlain, Staatliche Kunsthalle 1937–1939; Finnish Pavilion, New York these works. As he recounted to Julie paintings of 1964, the pieces made of foam One of Aalto’s key innovations was ment to architecture. It has been great fun Baden-Baden, Germany (1991); John World’s Fair, 1939; Baker House, Massa- Sylvester in John Chamberlain: A Catalogue rubber, the movies, some of the vacuum- his use of laminated wood that could be designing furniture in this way.” Raisonne of the Sculpture 1954–1985: coated pieces, and many of the sprayed- bent to a desired angle. The cold-bend As an avid collector of Aalto furniture, Chamberlain: Sculpture, Stedelijk Museum, chusetts Institute of Technology, There was the field, there were two foil pieces… there are few artists alive interlocking L-Leg, first used in Stool 60, Judd placed dozens of pieces, ranging Amsterdam (1996); John Chamberlain: Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1947–1948; painted bars and then two chrome bars whose work is equal to Chamberlain’s.” became a standard structural unit from from the standard to the specific, across his Foam sculptures (1966–79); Photographs Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo, that stood up. But if you counted ev- In addition to the paintings on view, which many permutations developed. spaces in New York, Marfa, and Europe. erything going all the way across, Judd purchased Chamberlain’s Mr. Press, For example, in 101 Spring Street and his (1989–2004), Chinati Foundation, Marfa Finland, 1949–1966; University of you could count up to thirty: thirty from 1961, which he installed on the Architecture Studio in Marfa are many (2005–06); John Chamberlain: American Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland, 1951–1971; different changes, thirty different fifth floor of 101 Spring Street.
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