Hong Kong–Pace is pleased to present an exhibition of work by American sculptor Joel Shapiro at its Hong Kong Gallery. On view from June9 to July 20, the show—which will examine Shapiro's practice from the 1990s to the present day—marks the artist's first solo presentation in Hong Kong.
Shapiro, who has maintained a deep interest in exploring—and occasionally erasing—the line between abstraction and figuration, has also been preoccupied with the ways in which sculpture can engage and activate landscape and architecture. By utilising various materials and procedures throughout his career, Shapiro has ceaselessly explored sculpture's capacity to alter one's sense of space, scale, and physicality.
Shapiro's upcoming exhibition in Hong Kong will bring together various sculptures in wood and bronze that highlight aspects of gravity, mass, and form in the artist's work over the past 30 years. The show will begin with two sculptures created by Shapiro in the 1990s, including a large-scale bronze from 1994–95 that draws one's attention to the floor as well as a subtly-painted wood sculpture consisting of two entwined figures that in turn draws the viewer's gaze up the wall of the room. A more recent, partially painted wood sculpture meanwhile appears to be frozen, mid-dash, in the middle of the space.
These somewhat heavier forms serve as counterpoints to the works on view in subsequent rooms of the exhibition, which focus on seemingly lighter, more precariously joined sculptures produced by the artist in recent years. Two of these sculptures, one painted an ethereal blue and another a soft yet brilliant yellow, are suspended from the ceiling, touching the floor ever so delicately. The third gallery space will showcase a two-part wall-mounted sculpture and a lithe, dynamic bronze.
Shapiro's Hong Kong exhibition follows Pace's presentation of a large-scale bronze sculpture by the artist in its booth at Art Basel Hong Kongearlier this year. Shapiro has mounted recent solo exhibitions at Pace Gallery in Seoul; the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art inWisconsin; the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven; the Kunstmuseum Winterthur in Switzerland; and the Nasher Sculpture Center inDallas. His work can be found in the permanent collections of major art institutions around the world, including the He Art Museum,Guangdong; the Ho-Am Art Museum, Seoul; the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois; the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden, Washington,D.C.; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Museum of Modern Art, NewYork; Storm King Art Center, New Windsor, New York; the Kunsthaus Zürich, Switzerland; the Centre Pompidou, Paris; and Tate, London.
Shapiro has also executed over 30 major commissions and large-scale, publicly sited works worldwide over the course of his career, including for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. and the US consulate in Guangzhou, China. His work can also befound outside the US embassy in Ottawa, Canada; the Denver Art Museum in Colorado; and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Joel Shapiro (b. 1941, New York)
Pace is a leading international art gallery representing some of the most influential contemporary artists and estates from the past century, holding decades-long relationships with Alexander Calder, Jean Dubuffet, Barbara Hepworth, Agnes Martin, Louise Nevelson, and MarkRothko. Pace enjoys a unique U.S. heritage spanning East and West coasts through its early support of artists central to the AbstractExpressionist and Light and Space movements.
Since its founding by Arne Glimcher in 1960, Pace has developed a distinguished legacy as an artist-first gallery that mounts seminal historical and contemporary exhibitions. Under the current leadership of CEO Marc Glimcher, Pace continues to support its artists and share their visionary work with audiences worldwide by remaining at the forefront of innovation. Now in its seventh decade, the gallery advances its mission through a robust global program—comprising exhibitions, artist projects, public installations, institutional collaborations, performances, and interdisciplinary projects. Pace has a legacy in art bookmaking and has published over five hundred titles in close collaboration with artists, with a focus on original scholarship and on introducing new voices to the art historical canon.
The gallery has also spearheaded explorations into the intersection of art and technology through its new business models, exhibition interpretation tools, and representation of artists cultivating advanced studio practices. As part of its commitment to technologically engaged artists within and beyond its program, Pace launched a hub for its Web3 activity, Pace Verso, in November 2021.
Today, Pace has eight locations worldwide, including a European foothold in London and Geneva, and two galleries in New York—its headquarters at 540 West 25th Street, which welcomed almost 120,000 visitors and programmed 20 shows in its first six months, and an adjacent 8,000 sq. ft. exhibition space at 510 West 25th Street. Pace's long and pioneering history in California includes a gallery in Palo Alto, which was open from 2016 to 2022. Pace's engagement with Silicon Valley's technology industry has had a lasting impact on the gallery at a global level, accelerating its initiatives connecting art and technology as well as its work with experiential artists. Pace consolidated its West Coast activity through its flagship in Los Angeles, which opened in 2022. Pace was one of the first international galleries to establish outposts in Asia, where it operates permanent gallery spaces in Hong Kong and Seoul, as well as an office and viewing room in Beijing. Pace presents seasonal programming in temporary, satellite spaces, including its gallery in Palm Beach, which opened in 2020, and its gallery inEast Hampton, which operated from 2020 to 2022.
Press release courtesy Pace Gallery.
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