1977

Untitled

American, born 1941

Joel Shapiro began exhibiting in the late 1960s, and in the following decade became one of the most important sculptors of his generation. The human body first took on significance for Shapiro in the early 1970s, when he extended the limits of his minimalist-related sculpture and began experimenting with figurative forms. The human shape emerged fully in a group of small, geometric running figures like this one, which were designed to be shown on the floor. The small size of these works is countered by the grand scale of their presence.