An exhibition of sculptures by John Chamberlain from the "Gondola" series (1981-85) will open at Dia Art Foundation, 548 West 22nd Street, on Thursday, April 5, 1990. The exhibition will close for the summer on June 17, 1990, but will reopen in the fall to continue until March 3, 1991. Hours are Thursday through sunday, 12 noon to 6 p.m. Admission is free.

Athough Chamberlain's free-standing sculptures and wall reliefs have long been recognized for their singular importance in contemporary sculpture, the "Gondolas," a series of elongated, low floor pieces, have remained largely unknown and represent a key group of his sculptures. The exhibition will include seven of the total of thirteen "Gondolas" as well as the large-scale related sculpture "Dooms Day Flotilla" (1982). This exhibition will be the first presentation of these works as a series, as well as their first exhibition in New York.

Concurrent with Dia's exhibition, an outdoor sculpture "Memorial to Lost Souls at Sea" (1980) will be sited at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center on Staten Island in cooperation with Dia Art Foundation. Built in the nineteenth century as a home for retired sailors, Snug Harbor is now a center for the arts and cultural activities. The sculpture will be sited on the formal oval lawn of the Center overlooking New York harbor.

A catalogue documenting the entire "Gondola" series, "Dooms Day Flotilla", and "Memorial to Lost Souls at Sea" will be forthcoming in the fall of 1990. These works are documented in the Chamberlain Catalogue Raisonne of the Sculpture. 1954-1985 but not as a complete series.

Chamberlain is widely regarded as among the most important living American sculptors. He studied at Black Mountain College and began working in the mid- 1950s. His work has been included in numerous museum exhibitions. His last one-person museum show in New York was the 1972 survey at The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. An installation of his sculptures was shown from 1982-1985 by Dia Art Foundation at 67 Vestry Street, New York. A retrospective of his sculptures was organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles in 1986. A one-person exhibition was shown at The Menil Collection in Houston in 1987. This spring, on April 3, Chamberlain will be inducted as a member of the American Academy of Art and Letters here in New York.

Support for this exhibition has been received from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and Linda and Harry Macklowe. Additional support has been provìded by the individual members of the Dia Art Council.

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For additional information or materials contact:
Press Department, Dia Art Foundation, press@diaart.org or 212 293 5518