Robert Lucas Chambers (born 1958) is an American sculptor from Miami, Florida.[1] His most recent public artwork is the South Miami Dade Art and Cultural Center. 'Light Field' and 'Adze' and 'Celt'.
He received a BFA from University of Miami in 1983 and an MA from New York University in 1990. He returned later to teach at University of Miami and New York University.[2] and is married to Danish-born painter Mette Tommerup.[3]
His sculptures appear in the permanent collections of the Kemper Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and the Miami Art Museum.[1] The son of an artist mother and a molecular scientist father, Chambers often includes scientific motifs in his sculptures.[4] He describes his work as having "a sense of experimental playfulness. The rigidity of science, chemistry and physics is broken by a desire to re-contextualize empirical research thru a sculptor's vantage point. He is represented by Emerson Dorsch Gallery in Miami. "[5] Chambers has also used debris from Florida hurricanes in his work.[6]
Chambers' 2004 sculpture "Sugabus", 45 globes of bronze representing the elements of a sucrose molecule in the shape of a poodle, appears at Laumeier Sculpture Park in St. Louis, Missouri. The work's title is a portmanteau of "sugar" and Cerberus, the three-headed dog that guards the underworld in ancient Greek mythology.[1] The sculpture is 14 ft × 12 ft × 12 ft (4.3 m × 3.7 m × 3.7 m) and weights 6 short tons (5.4 t).[7]
During Art Basel Miami in November 2007, Chambers installed a sculpture titled "Rotorelief" on roof of the Sagamore Hotel. The sculpture consisted of a working helicopter, the blades of which had been replaced by hypnotic discs.[8]
During the fall of 2018, Chambers was involved with a special hay installation at Bakehouse Art Complex, which involved creating a social area with bales of hay for an art event. He worked with a class from Florida International University to bring the project to fruition.