Jack ChambersLife & Work

A painter with unsurpassed technical proficiency and a bold experimenter in film, Jack Chambers (1931–1978) created his art and lived his life with passion. Never shy about going after what he wanted, a young Chambers left London, Ontario, in 1953 and later arrived unannounced at the home of legendary artist Pablo Picasso. Charmed by this brazen Canadian, Picasso advised him to study in Barcelona. The artists Chambers met in Spain and the influence from the New Spanish Realists, as well as the Surrealists, jump-started his own career.

Chambers returned to Canada in 1961 and went on to challenge conventional notions of regionalism. His theoretical essay “Perceptual Realism” encouraged artists to express their primary sensory experience, not simply reproduce their surroundings. Chambers was also a tireless champion for visual arts in Canada, founding one of the most important advocacy agencies for artists’ rights, the Canadian Artists Representation/Le front des artistes canadiens (CARFAC).