ROBERT CHAMBERS

(AMERICAN, BORN 1958)

Sugabus, 2004
bronze with patina
109 x 109 x 125 inches
Laumeier Sculpture Park Commission, with funds from the Mark Twain Laumeier Endowment Fund

Sugabus’ colossal 6,000 pounds of bronze arranged into 45 globes resemble a giant balloon sculpture poodle. Sugabus also represents the interlocking elements carbon, hydrogen and oxygen found in sucrose. Chambers’ cuddly title, a mingling of “Sugar” and “Cerberus” transforms the terror evoked by the mythological three-headed guard dog of Hades into a fluffy, domesticated pet. Has Chambers made this scary creature into a loveable puffball through association with a syrupy rush? The metamorphosis stirs together the legend, a love for pets and an elemental craving for sweets into a whimsical alchemy of sculptural forms.

Sculpture Interaction Guideline: Look, But Do Not Touch

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Robert Chambers was born in Miami in 1958. He earned his B.F.A. in 1983 from the University of Miami and his M.A. in 1990 from New York University. Chambers began his teaching position as Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Art at the University of Miami in 1993. He has been the recipient of the Nancy Graves Award and the Louis Comfort Tiffany Award. Chambers was granted a residency at the Fabric Workshop Museum in Philadelphia in 2009 and has work in the permanent collections of the Kemper Museum, Kansas City; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Miami Art Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami. He was featured at Laumeier in 2004 with Robert Chambers: In Sit U, a whimsical survey with works made over a fifteen-year period. Chambers currently lives and works in Miami.