Nasher Sculpture Center

Compared to the massive and dense compressions of brightly painted metal that characterize John Chamberlain's mature style, relatively consistent from the early sixties onward, his early work dating from 1954 to 1961 tends to be more open in form and diverse in color and texture. Linear elements made from bent rods and bars interweave with the dynamic syntax of assembled metal planes and curves. Surfaces are rough and coloration is part of the "found" nature of materials. The general effect is one of gestural energy relating closely to American abstract painting of the fifties and combining the strength of roughness associated with forging and welding with an almost delicate command of line, mass, and color. Chamberlain's distinctive contribution to the assemblage ethos added a new dimension to techniques absorbed from such artists as Julio Gonzalez, David Smith, and Richard Stankiewicz, and has now outlived its early associations with the Pop art and American automobile cultures.

Zaar is a strong example of the early phases of Chamberlain's development. It has been well-known since entering the Robert and Ethel Scull collection, New York.