Jack Chambers
(1931–)
(–1978)
Jack Chambers
1931–1978
Jack Chambers (1931–1978) was a Canadian artist, painter, and filmmaker from London, Ontario. Over his career, Chamber’s painting style shifted from a more surreal approach to, as he called it, “perceptual realism,” with semblance to photo-realism.
Chambers was a student of artist Selwyn Dewdney at Sir Adam Beck Collegiate Institute in London, Ontario, and later H.B. Beal Secondary School. He then studied literature at the University of Western Ontario. Chambers moved to Europe in 1953. While he was in France, he met Picasso, who advised him to study in Barcelona. At the beginning of fall 1954, he began studying at the Escuela Central de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid. He remained in Spain after graduating in 1959, developing a friendship with the realist painter Antonio Lopez Garcia.
Between 1964 and 1970, Chambers completed six experimental films varying in length that addressed domestic life in London, Ontario. In 1969, the year he was diagnosed with leukemia, Chambers published an essay entitled "Perceptual Realism," reflecting on his central stylistic and technical contribution to artmaking that covers a range of philosophical and theological sources. He had a strong regional focus in his painting, emphasising on life and family in a particular place. During this period of his life, Chambers made some of his most notable works; 401 Towards London No. 1 (1968–1969), Sunday Morning No. 2 (1968–1970), and Victoria Hospital (1969–1970). Additionally, Chambers was the founder and first President of the Canadian Artists’ Representation (CARFAC).