Richard Hambleton | Shadowman
ON VIEW
October 31 - November 17, 2019
RECEPTION
Thursday, October 31, 6-8pm
LOCATION
521 W 23rd St
New York, NY
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Richard Hambleton (b. Vancouver, Canada 1952) was one of the most prominent and influential figures of the downtown New York art scene. After receiving his Bachelors of Fine Arts in painting and art history from the Emily Carr School of Art in 1974, Hambleton launched his “Mass Murder” series. The series was painted on the streets of over fifteen cities across Canada and the United States. Hambleton would outline friends in chalk drawings, splashing them with red paint to mimic the remnants of a crime scene.
In 1979, Hambleton moved permanently to the Lower East Side of New York. It was here that Hambleton gained notoriety for his "Shadowman" paintings of the early 1980s. Over the course of the next decade, his ominous silhouettes painted in unsuspecting corners, alleys, and side streets had appeared in over six hundred locations in major cities including New York City, London, Paris, as well as both sides of the Berlin Wall.
A departure from the spontaneity of the traditional street tag, Hambleton’s paintings were site-specific conceptual works intended to provoke unsuspecting pedestrians with a sobering moment of contemplation. His first solo exhibition opened in the Lower East Side of New York in 1982, and just two years later, his work was included in the Venice Biennale. He was included in the Venice Biennale again in 1988. From 2009-2011, a major retrospective was mounted in collaboration with Giorgio Armani, touring multiple venues that included the Moscow Museum of Modern Art and Phillips de Pury in New York. Hambleton's work has been included in exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, MoMA PS1, and the Brooklyn Museum. Shadowman, a film about Hambleton by director Oren Jacoby, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 21, 2017. Hambleton continued to live and work in New York until his death in 2017.
Chase Contemporary is pleased to announce a solo exhibition of paintings and limited edition prints by pioneering urban conceptual artist Richard Hambleton. The exhibition will feature a selection of paintings from Hambleton’s Shadowman and Horse & Rider series, including early paintings from the 1980s through the late 2000s. Richard Hambleton: SHADOWMAN will run from October 31st through November 17th, 2019 at the gallery’s 521 W 23rd St location. A private preview will be held the evening of Thursday, October 24th, from 6-8pm. The public opening will be held on October 31st from 6-8pm.
The exhibition chronicles the development of Hambleton’s most iconic series of “Shadowmen” compositions, paired with his coveted “Horse & Rider (Marlboroman)” paintings that captured a contemporary spirit of the American west. In 1979, Hambleton moved permanently to the Lower East Side of New York. It was here that he gained notoriety for his figurative "Shadowman" paintings. Over the course of the next decade, his ominous silhouettes typically painted in unsuspecting corners, alleys, and side streets had appeared in over six hundred locations in major cities including New York City, London, Paris, as well as both sides of the Berlin Wall.
A departure from the spontaneity of the traditional street tag, Hambleton’s paintings were site-specific conceptual works intended to provoke unsuspecting pedestrians with a sobering moment of contemplation. Hambleton is widely considered to be the “godfather” of this type of expressionist street art.
Hambleton’s first solo exhibition opened in the Lower East Side of New York in 1982, and just two years later he was included in the Venice Biennale. He was included again at the Venice Biennale in 1988. In 2009, the works of Hambleton were displayed in an exhibition celebrating the artist’s 40-year career entitled, "Richard Hambleton - New York." The exhibition toured to multiple venues that included the Moscow Museum of Modern Art. "Shadowman," a film about the artist by director Oren Jacoby, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 21 2017 and opened to critical acclaim.
