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3/12/2012

Chris Chamberlain

ROA - Royal Opera Arcade Gallery, London

Created by English-Chinese artist Chris Chamberlain, Jewel of the Universe, shows the entire world from the perspective of looking down from space and consists of a third of a million hand-cut pieces of stained glass and 260 carats of jewels such as sapphires, aquamarines, zircons and a diamond, each gem indicating one of the world's great cities, including Rome, Milan, Naples, Turin, Bologna , Palermo, Taranto, Bari and Venice.

Rubies and emeralds indicate spiritual centres such as Mecca and Jerusalem and thousands of turquoise-coloured pieces, each the size of a grain of rice, depict the great rivers and lakes of the world such as Po, Nile, Amazon, Congo, Rhine, Yangtze, Mississippi, Danube and Ganges.

Jewel of the Universe is the first in a series of works that focuses on the vibrancy, uniqueness and beauty of Earth.

"Jewel of the Universe is a series of works that celebrate the concept that Earth may well be the Universe's most fascinating, beautiful planet and that therefore it and its parts are worthy of detailed representation in art" Chris Chamberlain.

The artwork is internally illuminated by over 6900 LEDs. Their light, a metaphor for the Earth's dynamic force of life, incandesces the glass and beams out through the jewelled cities.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Chris Chamberlain was born in Ipswich in 1963 to a Chinese mother and English father. He grew up in Hong Kong and has travelled extensively. The son of a Chinese painter, musician, calligrapher and performer, Chamberlain was exposed to Asian art from childhood. However, his own work is less influenced by traditional Chinese skills and more by what he describes as "China's hard-working and dogged spirit which so often, for a distant common good, optimistically tackles huge, daunting tasks"

"When I started the artwork I knew it would be incredibly demanding" He said. "But I had this Chinese quote in my mind: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." It's by Lao-tzu, an ancient philosopher. I believe I'm built like that - to take the long, hard, hopefully worthwhile road.' Chamberlain trained in mosaic in 2004, and in 2010 developed a unique technique in his London studio that he named "Grand Artimmosa", of which Jewel of the Universe is the debut work.

JEWEL OF THE UNIVERSE: FACTS AND FIGURES

A wall piece measuring 3.18M x 2.18M.
Takes eight people to carry and install. Took 3500 hours over the course of 27 months to make. Created with a third of a million handcut pieces of glass. 260 carats of jewels mark 1238 cities, 88 of which are in China. 12 types of gems used: amethyst, aquamarine, citrine, diamond, emerald, iolite, peridot, ruby, sapphire, tanzanite, topaz and zircon Zircons mark the world's top 100 cities including London, New York, Dubai, Moscow, Tokyo, Beijing, Mumbai and Rio.

Internally illuminated by 6912 high performance LEDs. Rubies and emeralds mark the religious / philosophical cities of Mecca, Jerusalem, Amritsar, Bodh Gaya, Varanasi, Qufu and Ise. The world’s great rivers and lakes are marked by tiny turquoise pieces. Its frame, depicting space, consists of circa 80,000 pieces of glass.

The artist made around a quarter of a million strikes of the hammer to create its pieces. Circa 3 kilometres of glass cuts, more than the combined height of the world's five tallest skyscrapers, or the length of 28 football pitches, went into making its pieces. During its making the artist became ambidextrous to avoid RSI.

Created by English-Chinese artist Chris Chamberlain (Jeurng Ying Fai), whose Chinese name means, to illuminate Engla nd’. The final jewel - a non-conflict Kimberley process diamond - is to be placed on Freetown, Sierra Leone on the opening night, Monday 3 December, at 7.30pm. Jewel of the Universe is for sale. Open to private offers. Ten percent of the proceeds of the sale will go to the 300-pupil Ivor Leigh Memorial School, Sierra Leone.

PRESS CONTACT
Jessica Wood
Artsinform Jessica@artsinform.co.uk
01273 488996

Opening: 4th december 2012

ROA - Royal Opera Arcade Gallery
5b Pall Mall , London
Hours: daily, 9am-8pm (except 15th Dec closes at 2pm)
Free Admission

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