Joel Shapiro, the acclaimed American sculptor known for his abstract wooden and bronze figures, died June 14 at age 83. In the weeks before his death, he gave a career-spanning interview to Max Norman for ARTnews, reflecting on his legacy. The article describes Shapiro's final New York show at Pace Gallery in fall 2024, which featured large works like "Splay" (2024), "Wave" (2024), and his largest wooden sculpture "ARK" (2020/2023–24), alongside small models and bronzes. It also offers a glimpse into his Long Island City studio, where he constantly experimented with form, material, and scale.
This article matters because it captures the final reflections of a major postwar American sculptor who spent decades pushing the boundaries of abstraction and figuration. Shapiro developed a unique sculptural language—loose, intuitive, and often hovering between gravity and flight—that influenced generations of artists. His death marks the end of an era for a generation that redefined sculpture in the late 20th century, and the interview provides rare insight into his creative process and philosophical approach to making art.