FOREWORD
Legendary Houston artist Bob Camblin, 1928-2010. Camblin studied painting at the Kansas City Art Institute, earning an M.F.A. in 1955. He taught at Rice University from 1967-73 with Joe Tate and Earl Staley, with whom he shared studio space. His influence was a constant undercurrent in the city’s art scene until he left in the early 80’s. Volatile and gregarious, Camblin saw himself as a vehicle for artistic inspiration, not always fully responsible for his highly personal, narrative polemic works. Wary of interpretation, he assumed multiple artistic personas, signing himself Anonymous Bosch, Red Stick the Pirate, and Mr. Peanut and is the only artist without a written statement featured in the seminal 1985 “Fresh Paint: The Houston School” catalog. Camblin is survived by his wife, Nancy Giordano. The 1970s found Camblin on even higher ground – in the prosperous and art savvy Houston. Here he discovered something remarkable – how to take art’s subjective, symbolic, and decorative functions and turn them into modern mysticism. Over the next decade, he put this philosophy to work, averaging over five exhibitions per year, from one-man and group shows, to gallery openings and museum exhibitions. In the summer of 1969, he and newly acquainted Rice University colleague and painter Earl Staley set up studios next door to each other and set in motion a pattern of working together that yielded rich results over the next four years. “Collaboration is a natural extension of Camblin’s artistic/human beliefs,” says Patricia C. Johnson of the Houston Chronicle, “His art tells of his physical world and his friends as much as his experiences, past or present. Camblin soon became involved with activities at the Moody Gallery and when William T. Wiley came to visit, he brought the concept of collaboration as a method of increasing opportunities for chance occurrences to open up new directions in one’s art. He and Staley began planning ‘events’: outings to the beach where groups of artists destroyed huge junk sculptures (1969, 1971, 1972); a tattoo show (1970) and document show (1971) at David Gallery; three exhibitions at the University of St. Thomas; countless collaborative drawings; and a three-story sculpture outside their studio entitled, ‘An Imaginary Scaffolding for the Renovation of the Statue of Liberty, to be Completed by the Bicentennial in 1776.’ The focus of these activities was on the process itself, and this point was central to their activity. The object was viewed as merely the by-product that engaged in artistic activity. In this regard, they resemble their Dada forefathers and the more anti-materialistic movements of the 1960s. Camblin liked the power of crude and primitive work and discovered a borderline in which it didn’t look superficial, artificial, or on the other hand, unresolved. He felt closer to his large eight-foot drawings than ever before, but the style of drawing never allowed nuances of the content to develop, as he had always wanted. The new drawings were so meticulous in detail that to jazz them up would destroy the whole. He seemed to be damned if he did and damned if he didn’t. He had the feeling that heavily relying on techniques was an easy way out and questioned the efficacy of them in general.
EXHIBITIONS OF THE WORK
1955 “Bob Camblin”, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri
1956 “Bob Camblin”, Cottey College, Nevada, Missouri
“Bob Camblin – One-man Show of Paintings and Drawings”, Kansas City, Missouri
1957 “Bob Camblin – Drawings and Paintings”, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri
“Fulbright Artists Exhibition”, Schneider Gallery, Rome, Italy
“Exhibition of Self Portraits”, Milan, Italy
“American Federation of Artists’ International Traveling Show of Students’ Work”,
“62nd American Exhibition: Painting and Sculpture”, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
1958 “Collectors Market Exhibit”, Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City, Kansas
“Childe Hassam Purchase Fund Show”, American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, N.Y.
“ART: USA 58”, New York, New York
“Fulbright Painters”, Institute for International Education, New York, N.Y., including Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City Akron Art Institute, Akron, Ohio Deleware Art Center, Wilmington, Delaware J.B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky Atlanta Public Library, Atlanta Georgia Rosicrucian Egyptian Oriental Museum, San Jose, California Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, California University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan Lamont Art Gallery, Exeter, New Hampshire Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida George Thomas Hunter Gallery, Chattanooga, Tennessee George Peabody College, Nashville, Tennessee Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, Missouri Newcomb College, New Orleans, Louisiana
“Provincetown Art Festival”, Provincetown, Massachusetts
“153rd Annual American Oil Painting and Sculpture”, Detroit, Michigan
1959 “Five Artists”, St. Armand’s Gallery, Sarasota, Florida
“Two Fulbright Artists”, Sarasota Art Association, Sarasota, Florida
1960 “Governor’s All-Florida Show”, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida
“Bob Camblin”, Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida
“Bob Camblin”, St. Armand’s Gallery, Sarasota, Florida
“Bob Camblin”, Southwestern College, Winfield, Kansas
“Bob Camblin”, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri
1961 “Bob Camblin”, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma
“Drawing Show”, St. Armand’s Gallery, Sarasota, Florida
1962 “Bob Camblin”, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
1963 “Group Show”, St. Armand’s Gallery, Sarasota, Florida
1964 “Group Show”, St. Armand’s Gallery, Sarasota, Florida
1965 “Bob Camblin”, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
“Bob Camblin”, Windsor College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
“Bob Camblin”, Plumtree Gallery, Salt Lake City, Utah
1966 “Bob Camblin”, Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas
“Chrysalis Series”, Plumtree Gallery, Salt Lake City, Utah
“Traveling Exhibition”, Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul, Minnesota
1967 “Bob Camblin”, Rice University, Allen Center, Houston, Texas
“Bob Camblin: Recent Drawings”, Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, Feb. 4 – 28.
“Beaumont Annual”, Beaumont, Texas
“Dickinson State College Exhibition”, Dickinson, North Dakota Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City, Missouri Norfolk Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia
“Seventeenth Southwest Print & Drawing Exhibition”, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas
“Seventeenth Southwest Print & Drawing Exhibition”, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
1968 “Bob Camblin”, Rice University, Houston, Texas
“American Drawings 1968”, Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
“Bob Camblin”, Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City, Missouri
1969 “Bob Camblin”, David Gallery, Houston, Texas
“Eighteenth Southwestern Print and Drawing Exhibition”, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, (toured 10 museums and universities), Dallas, Texas
“Bob Camblin”, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
1970 “Drawings in America”, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
“St. Paul Annual Drawing Show”, Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul, Minnesota
“The Highway Show”, Rice University, Houston, Texas
“Drawings from Nine States: A Regional Exhibition”, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
“Bob Camblin”, David Gallery, Houston, Texas
1971 “Project South/Southwest”, Fort Worth Art Center, Fort Worth, Texas
“Tarrant County Annual”, Fort Worth Art Center, Fort Worth, Texas
“Tattoo Show”, B & E Productions, David Gallery, Houston, Texas
“Two-Man Exhibition”, Cranfill Gallery, Dallas, Texas
“Drawings USA”, Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul, Minnesota
“Texas Sculpture and Painting Annual”, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, Texas
“The Other Coast (10 Texas Artists)”, California State Collage, Long Beach, California
1971 “3rd Biennial National Exhibition of Prints and Drawings”, Dickinson State College, Dickinson, North Dakota
“Rice Art Faculty Exhibition, Sewall Art Gallery”, Rice University, Houston, Texas
“Document Show”, B & E Productions, David Gallery, Houston, Texas
“B & E Productions Show”, St. Thomas Art Gallery, University of St. Thomas, Houston, Texas
1972 “Bob Camblin: Money is no object, Barter Show”, David Gallery, Houston, Texas
“Faculty Exhibit”, Rice University Gallery, Sewell Hall, Rice University
“Construction-Deconstruction Events 1 & 2”, B & E Productions, Galveston, Texas, Flatonia, Texas
“Bob Camblin”, Southern Illinois University Art Museum, Carbondale, Illinois
“The Former David Gallery Presents The Next to The Last Garage Sale”, David Gallery, Houston, Texas Main Street II,
“Fort Worth, Dallas, Houston Invitational: 11 Artists”, Houston’s Chamber of Commerce’s Cultural Affairs Committee, exhibitions at the Fort Worth Art Center, Fort Worth; The Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston; and The Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, Texas
1973 “Faculty Exhibit”, Rice University Gallery, Rice University, Houston, Texas
“Private Works: Works on Paper”, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Texas
“Extraordinary Realities”, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York (traveling exhibition)
“Hand Colored Prints”, Brooke Alexander, Inc., New York, New York (traveling exhibition)
“Camping Show”, St. Thomas Art Gallery, University of St. Thomas, Houston, Texas
“Joe Tate’s Back Yard”, St. Thomas Art Gallery, University of St. Thomas, Houston, Texas
“Contemporary Painting”, Smither Gallery, Houston, Texas
“Houston Area Exhibition”, The Sarah Campbell Blaffer Gallery, University of Houston, Texas
“Made in Houston”, Louisiana Gallery, Houston, Texas
1974 “Drawings”, Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New York City, New York
“Houston Artists”, Cusack Gallery, Houston, Texas
1975 “Bob Camblin”, Cusack Gallery, Houston, Texas
“Nineteenth National Print Exhibition”, The Brooklyn Museum, New York, New York
“Holiday Show”, Covo de longh Gallery, Houston, Texas
“Bob Camblin”, Louisiana Gallery, Houston, Texas
“Objects from the Life of Bob Camblin”, Union Art Gallery, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
“The Classic Revival”, Illinois Bell Telephone, Chicago, Illinois; Traveled to Lakeview Center for the Arts, Peoria, Illinois; Quincy Art Canter, Quincy, Illinois; Illinois State Museum, Springfield, Illinois; Kirkland Gallery, Millikin University, Decatur, Illinois; Mitchell Museum, Mt. Vernon, Illinois; Ella Sharp Museum, Jackson, Michigan; University Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
1976 “Bob Camblin: Watercolors and Prints”, Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas
“Bob Camblin”, Covo de Iongh Gallery, Houston, Texas
“Bob Camblin”, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
“Bob Camblin”, Moody Gallery, Houston, Texas, November 12 – December 3
“Contemporary Images in Watercolor Exhibition”, Akron Art Institute, Akron, Ohio & Indianapolis Institute of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana & The Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York
“Seven American Artists”, Gulf Street, Kuwait City, Kuwait, November
“Houston Area Exhibition”, Sarah Campbell Blaffer Gallery, University of Houston, Texas
“Made In Houston”, Louisiana Gallery, Houston, Texas
“59 Works”, The Collection of the Junior Service League of Longview, Longview, Texas
“Bob Camblin”, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
“Origin of the Birds”, (with Bill Steffy), Covo de longh Gallery, Houston, Texas
1977 “N CompleatWorks: Bob Bilyeu Camblin in collaboration with the Anonymous Box Company”, Moody Gallery, Houston, TX
“Little Egypt Enterprises: 13 Artists”, Moody Gallery, Houston, Texas, June
“Joe Atteberry, Bob Camblin, and Bill Steffy”, Moody Gallery, Houston, Texas,
“Moody Gallery Artists”, Waco Art Center, Waco, Texas
“Houston Area Exhibition”, Sarah Campbell Blaffer Gallery, University of Houston, Houston, Texas
1978 “Bob Camblin”, Projects Gallery, Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, Texas
“The Art of Texas”, The Renaissance Society, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
“Spirit of Texas”, Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin
“Bob Camblin”, Moody Gallery, Houston, Texas
“Vanitas: Works of Bob Bilyeu Camblin and anonymous box co.”, Moody Gallery, Houston, Texas
“Fire! An Exhibition of 100 Texas Artists”, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Texas
“Doors: Houston Artists”, The Houston Festival, The Alley Theatre, Houston, Texas
“Five Artists From Texas”, George Belcher Gallery, San Francisco, California
“Twenty-First Annual Invitational Operation Update‚ 1979”, Longview Museum and Arts Center, Longview, Texas
“Works on Paper”, Nave Museum, Victoria Regional Museum Association, Victoria, Texas
1980 “Contemporary Drawings and Watercolors”, Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York
“David McManaway Works – Twenty Years”, University Gallery, Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas
“Inside Texas Borders”, Corpus Christi State University, Corpus Christi, Texas
“Recent Works by Artists of the Southwest”, Gensler and Associates/Architects, Houston, Texas
“Beehive Postcard Show”, Salt Lake Art Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
“Bob Camblin”, Moody Gallery, Houston, Texas
1981 “Collection ’81‚ The Road Show”, 2 Houston Center, Assistance League of Houston, Houston, Texas
“The Image of the House in Contemporary Art”, Lawndale Annex of the University of Houston, Texas
“Little Egypt – Waterworkshop”, Roberto Molina Gallery, Houston, Texas
“Moody Gallery Exhibition”, Linda Durham Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1982 “Art From Houston in Norway”, Stavanger Kunstforening, Stavanger, Norway
1983 “Texas Images & Visions”, Archer M. Huntington Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1984 “Bob Camblin: A Houston Retrospective, 1968-1984”, Midtown Art Center, Houston, Texas
“1984 Show: An Exhibition of Contemporary Houston Art”, 2 Houston Center, Houston Women’s Caucus for Art, (listed in catalogue)
1985 “Fresh Paint: The Houston School”, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, Traveled to P.S. 1, Long Island City, New York, and the Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
“Self Images”, Midtown Art Center, Houston, Texas
“Propaganda, Too!”, Midtown Art Center, Houston, Texas
“Houston Drawing”, Alfred C. Glassell, Jr. School of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
“The New Nude”, Midtown Arts Center, Houston, Texas
1986 “Texas Visions”, Art League of Houston, Houston; Traveled to Museum of Western Art, Kerrville; Live Oak Art Club, Columbus; Abilene Fine Arts Center, Abilene; Lufkin Historical and Creative Art Center, Lufkin; Rockport Art Center, Rockport; McAllen International Museum, McAllen; Fort Bend County Museum, Richmond, Texas
“Slides of the North Wall 1985-86”, Anonymous Artists, Camblin’s Studio, Houston, Texas, Funded by a grant from the Cultural Arts Council of Houston.
“The Texas Landscape, 1900-1986”, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
“Collaborators: Artists Working Together In Houston 1969-1986”, The Glassell School of Art, Houston, Texas
“Bob Camblin”, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, September 18 – October 19
1987 “Found”, Diverse Works, Houston, Texas
“Cinq X Cinq: Houston‚ Paris”, Galerie Dario Boccara, Paris, France
1988 “Artists anonymous LAST DAZE silent auction”, Studio exhibit at 1401 W.Gray, Houston, Texas
“Handmade Paper”, Little Egypt Enterprises, Houston, Texas
“Robert Morris – Paintings/Bob Camblin – Paintings Drawings”, Nave Museum, Victoria Regional Museum Association, Victoria, Texas, June
1989 “Bob Camblin”, Rice University, Sewall Hall Gallery, Houston, Texas
“Bob Camblin”, Graham Gallery, Houston, Texas “Toy Show”, Transco Gallery, Transco Energy Company, Houston, Texas, Nov.11 – Jan. 5
1990 “Printmaking in Texas: the 1980s”, Modern Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas
1991 “Texas Selections from the Menil Collection; A Tribute to the University of Texas Medical Branch Centennial Celebration”, Galveston Art Center, Galveston, Texas
“Bob Camblin”, Graham Gallery, Houston, Texas
2003 “Collins House Exhibit of Baker University Collection”, Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas
2010 “Bob Camblin: Unframed Drawings and Paintings on Paper”, Sarah Balinskas Fine Framing, Houston, Texas 2012
“Collection of Ursula Brinkerhoff”, Canal Street Gallery, Houston, Texas
2014 “Flatbed Contemporary Print Fair”, Flatbed Press, Austin, Texas
“Art Bridge Party”, Moody Gallery, Houston, Texas 2015
“Bob Camblin Paintings and Drawings”, The Camblin Gallery
2016 “Bob Camblin: Hidden Realities”, A 60-Year Retrospective, Running Man Press
2018 The “Yes Retrospective”, Running Man Press