Joel Shapiro

Joel Shapiro Pace

An installation of seven vibrant, volumetric sculptures and a selection of recent works on paper by American sculptor Joel Shapiro.

These seven sculptures, many of which were first exhibited at the Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, in May 2016, continue Shapiro’s longstanding investigation of anthropomorphic and architectonic form while challenging the viewer’s sense of balance and scale. Re-configured specifically for Pace London – some placed directly on the floor, others tethered by cordage from the walls and ceiling – many of these recent works appear weightless in space, their forms seemingly relieved of mass and gravity, a sense further emphasized by their hollow construction with 3mm plywood. The juxtaposition of suspended and freestanding volumes in a single work, as well as the introduction of more suggestive, referential forms, represents a new direction in Shapiro’s experimentation with dissociated systems that commenced around 2002, when he began to disassemble more coherent structures into a series of wood and wire works that he hung from the walls and ceiling of his studio.

The exhibition at Pace will also feature a selection of gouaches and smaller-scale sculptures in an adjacent, more intimate, space in the gallery. Alongside his sculptures, Shapiro has made works on paper throughout his career. The gouaches on display are abstract and expressionistic. For some, he made pairs of works by blotting compositions with clean paper, creating a mirror image that Shapiro then obfuscates by adding new colours or changing the orientation of the paper.

Duration 19 May 2017 - 17 June 2017
Times Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m
Cost Free
Venue Pace London
Address 5 Hanover Square, London, W1S 1HD
Contact 4402032067600 / londoninfo@pacegallery.com / www.pacegallery.com

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