May 1 – late fall 2001 (weather permitting)
The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will feature a selection of five sculptures by renowned American artist Joel Shapiro (born 1941) in the 2001 installation of The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden, opening May 1. Drawn from public and private collections, Joel Shapiro on the Roof will include five large cast bronze and painted cast aluminum sculptures, dating from 1989 to the present – three have not been previously exhibited in New York, and two have been newly created. The works will be exhibited in the 10,000-square-foot open-air space that offers spectacular views of Central Park and the New York City skyline. The installation will mark the fourth consecutive single-artist installation on the Roof Garden.
The installation is made possible by the Lita Annenberg Hazen Charitable Trust.
Born and raised in New York City, Shapiro earned his bachelor's and master's degrees, the latter in art, from New York University. From 1965 to 1967, he worked in southern India as a Peace Corps volunteer. Since his first one-person exhibition at a New York gallery in 1970, he has held more than 125 solo
exhibitions in galleries, museums, and public gardens in the United States, Europe,
the Middle East, and Japan. He has also been commissioned to make publicly
sited sculpture for the permanent collections of numerous institutions, including
the United States Memorial Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.; the Cologne
Sculpture Park in Cologne, Germany; and the city of Orléans, France. Shapiro lives and works in New York City and the Adirondacks. He has one daughter, Ivy, and is married to the painter Ellen Phelan.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a brochure and related educational programs.
Joel Shapiro on the Roof is coordinated by Nan Rosenthal, Consultant in the Department of Modern Art, and Anne L. Strauss, Assistant Curator, also in the Department of Modern Art.
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The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden opened to the public in 1987. Annual installations have featured selections of modern sculpture from the Museum's collection and, most recently, presentations of works by the artists Ellsworth Kelly (1998), Magdalena Abakanowicz (1999), and David Smith (2000).
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The Cantor Roof Garden is open to the public from May through late fall, as weather permits. Sandwiches and beverage service – including espresso, cappuccino, iced tea, soft drinks, wine, and beer – are available at the Roof Garden daily from 10:00 a.m. until closing.
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November 13, 2000
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