Mark Phineas ChamberlainEncyclopedia Dubuque. “Article on Mark Chamberlain," Dubuque, Iowa, 11 October 2011. (July 16, 1942 – April 23, 2018) was an American photographer, installation artist, gallery owner and curator. Born and raised in Dubuque, Iowa, he received his BA in Political Science in 1965, and Master in Operations Research in 1967, from the University of Iowa. Chamberlain was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1967 and stationed in Korea during the American War in Vietnam. On discharge from the army, he changed his previous career course to become a photographic artist. He explained, "While stationed overseas, I picked up a camera to maintain my sanity and provide a creative outlet. I also took classes in Korean language and history and found a photography mentor in the military crafts program. Returning home, I had a growing desire to find an outlet for this newfound passion." In 1969, Chamberlain moved to Southern California, aspiring to open a photographic art gallery.
Mark Chamberlain co-founded BC Space Gallery and Photographic Art Services, in Laguna Beach, California in 1973 with Jerry Burchfield,Keith Thursby. “Jerry Burchfield dies at 62,” Los Angeles Times, 22 September 2009. and operated the space solely from 1987 until his death in 2018. The venue hosted community, political, and solstice events,Joanna Clay. “Gallery features art for all seasons,” Orange County Register, 23 January 2013. theatrical and musical performances.
With BC as a base of operations, Chamberlain and Burchfield co-founded “Laguna Canyon Project: The Continuous Document” (1980-2010)Cathy Curtis. Litterscapes Inspired by Road Debris,” Los Angeles Times, 19 June 1989. to record changes to Laguna Canyon over time. A crucial phase of this project was The Tell photographic mural,Cathy Curtis. "The Tell Does Indeed Deliver Its Message of Protest,” Los Angeles Times, 21 August 1989. which in 1989 became the site of a large demonstration that helped avert the development of the area into a massive housing community. The site was later incorporated into Laguna Coast Wilderness Park.
In 2002, the art partners co-founded "The Legacy Project," which documented the transition of Marine Corps Air Station El ToroLauri Mendenhall “The Edge of Air,” Coast Magazine, June 2005. into the Orange County Great Park. "The Legacy Project" members, ultimately numbering six, created The Great Picture,Liz Goldner. “Riverside, CA: Creating ‘The Great Picture,’” Art Ltd, Woodland Hills, CA, September 2011. one of the largest photographs in the world made as a single seamless image.
On October 22, 2014, Mark Chamberlain received a Helena Modjeska Cultural Legacy Award as an “Artistic Visionary” from Arts Orange County.Rick Stein. “15th Annual Orange County Arts Awards” Arts Orange County, CA, 25 June December 2014.Richard Chang “Mark Chamberlain among honorees in O.C. Arts Awards” Orange County Register, 27 June 2014.Daniella Walsh “Still Tilting at Windmills, Chamberlain Earns the Praise of His Peers” Laguna Beach Independent, 16 October 2014. The award was presented at the Samueli Theater, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Costa Mesa, CA.
Career highlights
Mark Chamberlain moved to Laguna Beach in the fall of 1970. On December 25 through the 27th, 1970 he attended the town's "Christmas Happening" (concert and love-in) in the Sycamore Hills area. The event drew about 25,000 flower children in attendance. His photographs of the event and its aftermath have been displayed and published in several venues and publications. In 2012, Laguna Beach Magazine published an article using some of these images, and produced a video with Chamberlain discussing the event and showing several more images.Laguna Beach Magazine. “The Christmas Happening” December 2012.
Mark Chamberlain's first major body of work, Dubuque Passages, begun in 1972 and was intimate black and white photographic artwork of his hometown. In the mid-1970s, he added color to his film palette and began Future Fossils, a social commentary work on the Southern California urban landscape. He soon began his Dream Sequences series; lyrical figurative photos in vibrant color with erotic overtones. In 1979, he began Looking for 2000; an ongoing companion color series to Future Fossils photographic images, reflecting our evolution into the twenty-first century. He created thousands of images into the twenty-first century, including photographs for the "Laguna Canyon Project," The Tell, and "The Legacy Project."
A solo retrospective of Chamberlain's 40-year artistic career, “Reflections of an Armchair Arteologist," was held in early 2010 at Soka University, Aliso Viejo, California.Peter Clothier. “Mark Chamberlain, Tribute to an Artist,” Huffington Post, 8 March 2010. The exhibition included more than 150 artworks including Dubuque Passages, Future Fossils, Looking for 2000, other photographic series, collage and assemblage pieces.
His photographic artwork is included in the collections of the Laguna Art Museum, the Orange County Museum of Art, the University of Dubuque, the Dubuque Museum of Art (In Spring 2021, the museum exhibited “2100 and Counting: Looking at the Collection in the 21st Century,” including six of Chamberlain's Dubuque Passages photos.), the Polaroid Collection, the Cincinnati Art Museum, and in many other public and private venues. His and Burchfield's chromogenic color print, Primary Light Documentation (1983), was displayed at the Orange County Museum of Art in the exhibition, “California Landscape into Abstraction.”Richard Chang. “O.C. Museum of Art explores California landscape," Orange County Register, 19 December 2013. Chamberlain was a longtime supporter of and exhibitor at the Laguna Art Museum Annual Auction. He also worked actively to oppose this museum's proposed 1996 merger with the former Newport Harbor Art Museum, now the Orange County Museum of Art.Cathy Curtis. “Merger Opponent Foresees ‘Divorce," Los Angeles Times, 25 May 1996. He was a frequent contributor to local publications, including images for Laguna Beach Magazine.Dana Nichols. “1970 Christmas Happening,” Laguna Beach Magazine Laguna Beach, December 2012.
He was an Adjunct Faculty at Saddleback College (1979–90), Orange Coast College (1980–90), and Cypress College (1991–2010). He conducted workshops and lectures at the University of California, Irvine, University of California, Riverside, California State University, Fullerton, California State University, Long Beach, and the University of Dubuque. He was a panelist and presenter at Society for Photographic Education conferences (1981, 1989, 2007).
BC Space
In 1973, Mark Chamberlain co-founded, with Jerry Burchfield, BC Space Gallery in Laguna Beach, CA.“Best Art Gallery Orange County 2013 - BC Space,” OC Weekly, November 2013. Lynn Smith wrote in the Los Angeles Times in 1983, “They rented an original Masonic Lodge building on Forest Avenue and set up a studio that specialized in art reproduction, restoration of old photos and custom laboratory work. BC Space was not your typical ‘do it yesterday’ sort of operation, and their regular clientele soon settled into those who, like them, appreciated a relaxed approach to creativity and allowed them the time to do their own work. As Chamberlain put it, ‘one great big playground under one roof.'”
In 1976, the partners formally converted the BC foyer area into a contemporary fine art photography gallery. By then the photo lab and studio services were capable of supporting a modest gallery with monthly exhibitions—many infused with political, social, and environmental messages.
Burchfield and Chamberlain held an auction at BC Space in 1981. Linda Bellon wrote: “They planned an auction to support the building of a second gallery room. The auction's success depended on the photographers enlisted to donate prints…260 pieces by 150 artists from across the country arrived at BC Space! The support from the photography community was overwhelming. The gallery was virtually converted into a museum where visitors spent three to four hours viewing prints by Matthew Brady, Imogen Cunningham, George Hurrel, Philippe Halsman, André Kertész, and Helmut Newton, as well as work by young artists from California. A tremendous amount of hard work, artist support, and volunteer help secured the auction's success and financed the second gallery room.”
Among the venue's many accomplishments was its 1984 printing of the Orange County Register Los Angeles Olympics photographs. BC processed and matted the images to museum standards, creating the visual presentation for which the Register won that year's Pulitzer Prize.Eric Morgan. “Register shares in Olympic glory 25 years ago,” Orange County Register, 6 August 2009.
In April 1986, BC Space exhibited the Hollywood celebrity photographs of Holly Wright and Karl Gernot Kuehn,Herman Wong. “Photo Show Captures The Actresses Of Yore” Los Angeles Times, 4 April 1986. along with a poetry reading by Wright's husband, the award-winning poet Charles Wright.Herman Wong. “Photo Show Captures The Actresses Of Yore” Los Angeles Times, 4 April 1986. (In 2014, Charles Wright was named Poet Laureate of the United States by the Library of Congress.Mike Melia. “Charles Wright named U.S. Poet Laureate” PBS NewsHour, 12 June 2014.)
After Burchfield left BC Space in 1987 to pursue a teaching career, Chamberlain expanded the gallery's perspectives, exhibiting other visual and performance media on an equal footing with photography. “Ideas and issues expressed through art became more important to me than displaying just one medium,” he explained. “Besides, photography had gained its place in the art world.”