John Chamberlain dies at 84

John Chamberlain, who almost singlehandedly gave automotive metal a place in the history of sculpture. He smashed and twisted together a ‘poetic fusion of Abstract Expressionism and Pop from fenders, fins, bumpers and hoods’, died last wednesday, 21 december 2011, in Manhattan. He was 84.

In a restless career of almost half a century, Mr. Chamberlain worked with a broad range of materials, some as pliant as foam rubber and as ephemeral as brown paper bags. But he returned again and again to the more substantial stuff of the scrap yard, explaining the attraction as one of practicality. “I saw all this material just lying around against buildings, and it was in color,” he said, “so I felt I was ahead on two counts.”

via Superuse.org: Where recycling meets design | John Chamberlain dies at 84.