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Dominic Chambers’ upcoming New York solo exhibition

Basketball court with rainbow lines against a cloudy gray backdrop

“Fairground Park (the shadowy place),” Dominic Chambers.

Dominic Chambers ’16 (New Studio Practice: Fine Arts) will be exhibiting his first solo show with Lehmann Maupin, the New York gallery that represents him. The exhibition, scheduled for 2024, features Chambers’ reflective paintings, which most recently explore leisure and contemplation and their relationship with the Black body.

Chambers, who received his Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale University School of Art after attending MIAD, draws inspiration from a variety of mediums, including and especially literature. For example, his Wash Paintings series reference the veil, the metaphorical lens in W.E.B Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk that informs how white Americans perceive the Black body and experience.

“Too often, the Black body has been located in our imaginations as one incapable of rest,” Chambers says in his biography on the Lehmann Maupin website. His recent works, which feature his friends and acquaintances resting, reading and relaxing, challenge this idea: “Often when we imagine what the Black body is doing it is usually an act of labor, rebellion, or resistance,” he continues.

Painting of Black person with bright gold earring relaxing and reading on the ground, surrounded by books

“Shadow Work (Chapters),” Dominic Chambers.

Chambers has exhibited work worldwide, displaying solo exhibitions from the August Wilson Center of African American Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to LUCE Gallery in Italy. In addition to his artistic practice, which includes both painting and writing, Chambers also serves as a visiting artist and lecturer. In 2021, he was named one of the most promising young artists in Forbes magazine’s “30 Under 30” list.

While at MIAD, Chambers completed both the Yale Norfolk Summer residency and the New York Studio Residency Program. “MIAD provided the academic rigor and the professional support system I needed to further succeed as an artist,” he explained in a previous interview with the college. “The strong professional and educational foundation I developed while at MIAD became the building blocks to achieving higher artistic and academic honors.”

Keep up with Dominic’s work on his website, read about his artistic practice and learn more about MIAD’s New Studio Practice: Fine Arts major!

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