Chamberlain is best known for his distinctive metal sculptures, constructed from discarded automobile-body parts and other modern industrial detritus, which he began making in the late 1950s. His singular method of putting these elements together led to his inclusion in the paradigmatic exhibition “The Art of Assemblage,” at the Museum of Modern Art in 1961, where his work was shown alongside modern masters such as Marcel Duchamp and Pablo Picasso.

The new works are made of metal taken from mid-century American and European cars. His sculptures are widely recognized as representing a major transition in the history of modern—particularly public—sculpture, when industrial materials became an acceptable,and, progressively, a preferred medium. From the May 20-June 18 2011 exhibition