NEW WINDSOR, N.Y. – Storm King Art Center is adding Joel Shapiro’s 21-foot-tall Untitled (1994) sculpture to its collection, courtesy of Sony Corporation of America (SCA). SCA gifted the abstract sculpture to the sculpture park and art center located in Upstate New York in the Lower Hudson Valley. Untitled is composed of five diagonal bronze beams with allusions to the figurative.
Originally commissioned by SCA, the sculpture has been on view in the lobby of SCA’s former headquarters at 550 Madison Avenue since 1995. SCA recently moved its headquarters to 25 Madison Avenue in New York. The work will be installed in Storm King’s South Fields in advance of the Art Center’s May 14 exhibition openings.
Shapiro’s minimalist sculpture activates the space it inhabits and invites viewers to experience the sculpture from all angles. The form of the sculpture is inspired by that of a walking man, and exemplifies Shapiro’s interest in movement. At the time it was commissioned, the sculpture was the largest work the artist had ever created.
.
Untitled Sculpture by Joel Shapiro, 1994. Donated by Sony Corporation of America to Storm King Art Center.
.
Untitled (1994) is the first work by Joel Shapiro in Storm King’s collection. Storm King Art Center previously presented work by Shapiro in 1987 as part of the exhibition "The Re-emergent Figure: Seven Sculptors at Storm King Art Center."
“This is a remarkable gift from Sony Corporation of America," said John Stern, President of Storm King, in the news announcement. "I am thrilled that we will have this outstanding work by a great sculptor installed at Storm King for all of our visitors to enjoy in the open air.”
Joel Shapiro
Joel Shapiro (b. 1941, New York) received a B.A. and M.A. from New York University (1964, 1969). Since his first solo exhibition in 1970, Shapiro’s work has been the subject of over 100 one-person shows and retrospectives. He has executed more than 30 commissions and publicly sited sculptures in major Asian, European, and North American cities. In his recent investigations of the expressive possibility of form and color in space, the artist suspends painted wooden elements from the ceiling, wall, and floor, exploring the projection of thought into space without the constraint of architecture. In 2011, Shapiro energized the monumental 43-foot-tall gallery at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Germany with 15 vibrantly painted wooden elements.
Joel Shapiro lives and works in New York.
Storm King: New for the 2016 Season
The art of Dennis Oppenheim receives a close examination this summer at Storm King Art Center in Upstate New York in the Lower Hudson Valley. Teaming up with the artist's estate, "Dennis Oppenheim: Terrestrial Studio" will present outdoor and indoor sculpture plus installation, sound, film, photography and unveil two major earthworks conceived by the artist, but never fully realized in his lifetime. The exhibition will be installed in several locations set across Storm King’s landscape including the South Fields, Meadows, and Museum Hill, as well as inside the Museum Building. The show is organized by Storm King Director and Chief Curator, David R. Collens; Curator Nora Lawrence, and Assistant Curator Theresa Choi.
Opening simultaneously are site-specific outdoor installations by Josephine Halvorson as part of the sculpture park and art museum's Outlooks series. Both exhibitions will be on view from May 14 through November 13, 2016. Storm King opens for the season on April 6, 2016 and remains open to visitors through November 27, 2016.
Click here for details on both exhibitions.
___________________________
BASIC FACTS: Storm King Art Center is located at 1 Museum Rd, New Windsor, NY 12553. www.stormking.org.
___________________________
Copyright 2016 Hamptons Art Hub LLC. All rights reserved.