About This Artwork
John Chamberlain
American, 1927–2011
Toy1961
Steel, paint, and plastic
136 x 98 x 77.5 cm (53 1/2 x 38 1/2 x 30 1/2 in.)
Gift of William Hokin, 1969.809
Contemporary Art
Not on Display
John Chamberlain began to make abstract sculptures— both wall-mounted and freestanding—of painted, compressed automotive parts in the 1950s. Skillfully combining the vigorous gestures of Abstract Expressionism with the playful use of found materials and compositions of Dada and Surrealism, the artist took previously cast-off pieces of sheet metal and then crimped, bent, and cut the usually unyielding material into an imposing form. Toy is atypical in its incorporation of a Slip n’ Slide (a plastic waterslide first introduced in 1961); the work slyly suggests a classical relief and the motif of drapery.