Joel Shapiro
American, 1941
Shapiro is one of the United States’ best-known sculptors. His work, while based on the human figure, stands at the intersection of abstract and figurative art. The artist was born in New York City, and received his B.A. and M.A. from New York University. He has received several awards for his work, including the Skowhegan Medal in Sculpture, a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has completed commissions at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Shapiro’s sculptures and drawings have been seen in more than 160 solo and group exhibitions and retrospectives, and are in the collections of major museums worldwide. Shapiro currently lives and works in New York City.
“I kept pushing the parts around until I found an image that I thought was lively and until the aggregate became more and more meaningful.”
Photo courtesy of Yves Bresson
