Joel Shapiro’s ‘New Installation’ to open at Rice Gallery Feb. 2

Amy Hodges
713-348-6777
amy.hodges@rice.edu

Joel Shapiro’s ‘New Installation’ to open at Rice Gallery Feb. 2

Celebrated American sculptor Joel Shapiro will be on hand for the opening of “New Installation” Feb. 2 at Rice Gallery. The opening celebration will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. and will feature complimentary beverages. The event is free and open to the public.

Rice Gallery is located in Sewall Hall on the Rice University campus, 6100 Main St. For directions, go to www.rice.edu/maps/maps.html.

Known for his geometric, abstract sculptures that appear to bound across museum walls, floors and sculpture gardens, Shapiro has embarked on an entirely new body of work. He created room-sized installations of colorful shapes and lines that seem to hover in suspended animation. In a gravity-defying array of color and form, Shapiro’s “New Installation” will suspend wooden planks that have been vibrantly painted with supersaturated pigment from the gallery’s 16-foot ceiling.

Shapiro described his approach to installation art as “the projection of thought into space without the constraint of architecture” and said, “I feel like I’ve been working for so long to have finally built up this moment of discovery that I can get the work off the floor and be more playful in the air.” Shapiro will speak at the opening at 6 p.m.

For more on “New Installation,” go to www.ricegallery.org/new/exhibition/shapiro.html.

Members of the news media who want to attend the preview should RSVP to Amy Hodges atamy.hodges@rice.edu or 713-348-6777.

A high resolution photo of Shapiro’s artwork is available here:http://media.rice.edu/images/media/NewsRels/0131_shapiro.jpg.