About McWillie Chambers
McWillie Chambers was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1951. He lived with his family in Clinton, Louisiana until 1969 when he went to study painting at Louisiana Tech University. In 1971 he transferred to the Kansas City Art Institute and received a BFA degree in 1973 from KCAI. In 1973 he moved to New York City and continued his studies for a time at the New York Studio School.
For forty years McWillie Chambers was a part of the art community in New York City, working as an artist and also as an art handler/ art dealer. A significant and formative part of his experience in the New York art world was his association with the Grace Borgenicht Gallery where he worked for 23 years. Landscape and still life were the subjects of most of McWillie Chambers’ paintings prior to 1990. In 1990 he began to do paintings depicting the male figure. The exploration of the male figure as the subject of his paintings, drawings, and prints has been his primary focus since that time.
In 2013 McWillie Chambers moved his studio from New York City to the village of Catskill, NY, where he continues to live and work.
Studio visits can be arranged by appointment. The McWillie Chambers studio welcomes your telephone or email inquiries.
Contact: (917) 319-4448 or mcwilliechambers@earthlink.net
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Kaffee Gallery.
Corpus Christi, Texas. 1980
Bowery Gallery.
New York, New York. November 26–December 15, 1993
The Sound Factory.
New York, New York. June and July 1994
Peter Madero Gallery.
New York, New York. October 27–November 12, 1994
Tricia Collins Grand Salon/White Room.
New York, New York. September 14–October 14, 1995
Tricia Collins Grand Salon.
New York, New York. January 4-25, 1997
Barbara Levy Gallery.
Cherry Grove, Fire Island, New York. September 1998.
Pegasus.
New York, New York. November 6-30, 1998
Pegasus.
New York, New York, May, 2001
Fischbach Gallery.
New York, New York, January 10-February 9, 2002
Barbara Levy Gallery.
Cherry Grove, Fire Island, New York, Aug.30-Sept.10, 2002
John Davis Gallery.
Hudson, New York January 4-28, 2007
John Davis Gallery.
Hudson, New York, June 19-July 13, 2008
John Davis Gallery.
Hudson, New York, April 29-May 23, 2010
John Davis Gallery.
Hudson, New York, October 11-November 4, 2012
George Billis Gallery.
New York, (Project wall) March 26 – April 20, 2013
John Davis Gallery.
Hudson, New York, January 10 – February 1, 2015
George Billis Gallery.
New York, NY, (Project wall) September 8 – October 10, 2015
George Billis Gallery.
New York, NY, March 7-April 1, 2017
John Davis Gallery.
Hudson, NY, “Find the Rainbow”, July 22-August 13, 2017
George Billis Gallery.
New York, NY, March 13-April 7, 2018
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
“The Automobile in Art.” Detroit, Michigan. 1984
“Good Things Come in Small Packages.” Bowery Gallery. New York, New York. 1986
“Alumni Exhibition.” New York Studio School. New York, New York. 1986
“Small Works Invitational.” Bowery Gallery. New York, New York. December 1990-January 1991
“Members Exhibition.” Bowery Gallery. New York, New York. September 1991
“Members Exhibition.” Bowery Gallery. New York, New York. September 1992
“New Landscapes.” The Gallery-Three Zero. New York, New York. October 1992
“Universal Diversity-Images Through Our Own Eyes.” Lesley-Lohman Gay Art Foundation. New York, New York. July 1993
“Members Exhibition.” Bowery Gallery. New York, New York. September 1993
“Spring Show.” Hanover Art Gallery. Hanover, New Hampshire. March-June 1994
“Art and Fantasy.” Benefit for the Gay Games, Puck Building. New York, New York. January 1994
“Diamonds, Gold and Myrrh--25 Years.” Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation. New York, New York. May-June 1994
“Pride in Our Diversity: An Invitational Exhibition of Lesbian and Gay Artists” curated by Ronny Cohen. 24 Hours for Life Gallery. New York, New York. June 14-July 31, 1994
“Universal Diversity 2, Our Vision, Our Selves.” Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation. New York, New York. July 1994
“Members Exhibition.” Bowery Gallery. New York, New York. September 1994
“25thAnniversary Show.” Bowery Gallery. New York, New York. December 1994
“Art Group Addresses AIDS.” Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation. New York, New York. March 1995
“Universal Diversity 3, Greater Exposure.” Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation. New York, New York. July 1995
“Pink and Innocent.” Tricia Collins Grand Salon. New York, New York. June 1995
“Sun and Sea.” Lizen-Tops Gallery. Easthampton, New York. June 1995
“Hot.” K and E Gallery. New York, New York. July 1995
“Sixth Annual Uncommon Women Awards.” Benefit Auction. Easthampton, New York. August 1995
“Members Exhibition.” Bowery Gallery. New York, New York. September 1995
“The $800 Show.” G.W. Einstein Company. New York, New York. December 2-22, 1995
“Take Home a Nude.” New York Academy of Art. New York, New York. June 13, 1996
“Universal Diversity 4: Freedom of Expression.” Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation. New York, New York. August 8-31, 1996
“Me, Myself, and I: A Self-Examination.” La Mama-La Galeria. New York, New York. August 20-September 7, 1996
“Seventh Annual Uncommon Women Awards.” Benefit Auction. Easthampton, New York. August 1996
“The Artist Mirrored: Self Portraits.” New York Studio School. New York, New York. October 1996
“Creating Changes: Our Pride Against Prejudice.” Stony Brook University Museum. Stony Brook, New York. October 29-November 15, 1996
“Art and Sensual Drive/Energism 2.” (McWillie Chambers, Eric Fischl, Lynda Goode, and Hunt Slonem) curated by Ronny Cohen. Jane Thurn Gallery. New York, New York. November 20-December 30, 1996
“Scapes (Land and Air).” Jane Thurn Gallery. New York, New York. March 11-29, 1997
“The First Annual MALE IMAGE Juried Exhibition.” Fowler Gallery. Provincetown, Massachusetts. July 25-August 6, 1997
“Inaugural Exhibition.” Levy-Gormley Gallery. Cherry Grove, Fire Island, New York. August 15-September 15, 1997
“The Art Exchange Show.” Booth 6, Ronny Cohen. New York, New York. June 4-9, 1998
“Pride Exhibition ’98.” Vincent Louis Galleries. New York, New York. June 16-July 4, 1998
“Absolut Secret.” McKee Gallery. New York, New York. December 17-19, 1998
“Group Show.” Barbara Ann Levy Gallery. Cherry Grove, Fire Island, New York. 1999
“Group Show.” (McWillie Chambers, Philip Calkins, Bob Sechser, Leah Durner, and Jason Seder). Barbara Ann Levy Gallery. Cherry Grove, Fire Island, New York. June 30-July 16, 2000
“Works on Paper 2001”, Ronny Cohen pavilion, Park Ave. Armory, New York, March 1-4, 2001
“Gala Auction Fundraiser”, Bowery Gallery, New York, New York, March 10, 2001
“Boy Bordello: An exhibition of work by artists of The Erotic Life Drawing Workshop”, Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation, New York, New York, August, 2001
“N.Y. Studio School Alumni Exhibition”, Elizabeth Harris Gallery, N.Y., June 20-July 13, 2002
“SexComa”, Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation, NY., July 16-August 17, 2002
“Celebration of Diversity: An Art Exhibit”, Cinema Arts Centre, Huntington, L.I., NY. (a collaboration with the Long Island Gay and Lesbian Film Festival) Nov. 14-17, 2002
“Steam Heat” (The Studio Series- a project of the Erotic Life Drawing Workshop) 3 person show – with Leonard Todd and Peter McCaffrey, Leslie-Lohmann Gay Art Foundation Gallery, NY, January 7-14, 2003 (exhibition was not an official Leslie-Lohmann Gay Art Foundation show)
“divRcity artshow”,The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, &Transgender Community Center, New York, March 29-May 15,2003
“Allure: Painted and Drawn Visions of Beauty”, Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation, New York, September 10-October 16, 2004
“What’s in a Face – 22 artists contemplate that human space”, Brik Gallery, Catskill, NY June 30-July 29, 2007
“Naked in New Hope”, New Hope Sidetracks Art Gallery, New Hope, PA. September 1 – October 21. 2007
“McWillie Chambers/Ingrid Cappozzoli Flinn” (two person exhibition) Figureworks, Brooklyn, NY April 11-June 1, 2008
“Saito Art Project”, Sansquoi Gallery, Okahama, Japan, August 2008
“Naked in New Hope ‘08”, New Hope Sidetracks Gallery, New Hope, PA. Aug. 30-Oct. 19, 2008
“Faces”, Selena Gallery, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY, Oct. 6 – Nov. 7, 2008
“The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection/Fifty Works for Fifty States”, Weatherspoon Art Gallery, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC, 2009 (illustrated page 156 in catalogue)
“Local Self-Portraits”, curated by Richard Roth, Hudson Opera House, Hudson, NY, June 12 –August 14, 2010
“Moby Dick on the Delaware”, New Hope Sidetracks Art Gallery, New Hope, PA. July 10th– September 11, 2010
“Naked in New Hope”, New Hope Sidetracks Art Gallery, New Hope, PA. October, 2010
“Exploring 100 Years of Figurative Art”, Figureworks, Brooklyn, NY October 8 – December 19, 2010
“Summer inaugural group show”, DNA Gallery, Provincetown, MA., June, 2011
“Warren Street”, Richard Roth, curator, Hudson Opera House, Hudson, NY, June 11-August 14, 2011
“Naked in New Hope”, New Hope Sidetracks Art Gallery, New Hope, PA, September 17 – November 5, 2011
“Naked in New Hope”, New Hope Sidetracks Art Gallery, New Hope, PA, September 15 – November 3, 2012
“One sees great things from the valley;only small things from the peak”, Fischbach Gallery, NY
November 8 – December 15, 2012
“Faces of Figureworks - Self-Portraits”, Figureworks, Brooklyn, NY, January5 – March 3, 2013
“Art Meets Art: Perspectives on and Beyond Olana”, (Richard Roth, curator) Hudson Opera House, Hudson, NY., June – July, 2013.
“A Taste of Summer”, Figureworks, Brooklyn, NY, June 14th– July 30th, 2013
“Surf and Turf”, Madelyn Jordon Fine Art, Scarsdale, NY July 10 – Sept. 14 , 2013
“Summer Selections”, Figureworks, Brooklyn, NY, June 21 – July 27, 2014
“”Ship Ahoy!” New Hope Sidetracks Art Gallery, New Hope, PA. June 21 – August 2, 2014
“Naked in New Hope” New Hope Sidetracks Gallery, New Hope, PA. September 2014
“On the Domestic Front: Scenes of Everyday Queer Life”, James M. Saslow, curator, Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, NY, August 14 – October 25, 2015
“Naked in New Hope”, New Hope Sidetracks Gallery, New Hope, PA. September 12 – October 31, 2015
“In the Country, By the Sea: Part II”, Madelyn Jordon Fine Art, Scarsdale, NY June 24-August 27.2016
“Naked in New Hope”, New Hope Sidetracks Gallery, New Hope, PA. September 10 – October 29, 2016
“Cityscapes: A Group Show”, George Billis Gallery, NY, June 27-July 22, 2017
“Naked in New Hope 11thannual NiNH”, New Hope Sidetracks Gallery, New Hope, PA, September 9 – October 28, 2017
“Naked in New Hope”, 12thAnnual, New Hope Sidetracks Gallery, New Hope, PA September 8-October 27, 2018
“Hudson Athens Light”, Hudson Hall, Hudson, NY March 23 – June 9, 2019
“Stonewall 50 Pride at Trinity”, Trinity Church on the Green, New Haven, CT, June 13, 2019
“Sacred Earth”, Trinity Church on the Green, New Haven, Ct, June, 2022
“Terrain: Landscapes, Seascapes,cityscapes”, Emerge Gallery, Saugerties, NY June 3-July 2, 2023
“Diversity”, Trinity church on the green, New Haven, Ct., June, 2023
“NYC Group Exhibition”, George Billis Gallery, NY, NY, June 1-30, 2023
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
The New York Public Library, New York, NY
Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, North Carolina
Commerce Bank, Kansas City, Missouri
Leslie-Lohmann Gay Art Museum, New York, NY
EDUCATION
Louisiana Polytechnic Institute. Ruston, Louisiana. 1969-1971
Kansas City Art Institute. Kansas City, Missouri. BFA. 1971-73
New York Studio School. New York, New York. 1973-1974
Universidad de Salamanca. Salamanca, Spain. 1981