Shortstop

Shortstop is a sculpture created by American artist John Chamberlain in 1957. Chamberlain was known for his Abstract Expressionist works, often characterized by an emotional approach to his art.1

For Shortstop, Chamberlain utilized rusty automobile fenders he found. This marked his first use of car parts in his sculptures, a material he would return to later in his career. His sculptures frequently incorporated industrial materials and were often coated in bright paints, creating a sense of frozen movement from crumpled and jammed parts. Chamberlain's innovative use of found industrial materials, like car parts, placed him within a broader shift in sculpture during the 1950s, moving towards "construction" techniques rather than traditional carving or modeling.12