Infinite Possibility: The Paintings of David Shapiro

David Shapiro was an American multimedia known for his symbol based abstractions. Born in 1944 in Brooklyn, NY, he studied at the Pratt Institute before receiving his MFA from Indiana University in 1968. He taught at several institutions, including Barnard College and Parsons. Shapiro passed away in New York, NY in 2014. Today, his works are held in the collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; the University of Chicago; the Cleveland Museum of Art; and The Museum of Modern Art, New York, among others. Shapiro's daily life and work was greatly influenced by continuous study and practice of Buddhism.The artist embraced a great sense of stillness and muted color found in classic Asian art, as well as an appreciation of calligraphy. Yet somehow there was something of New York City in his work—something of the place where so many cultures collide. Shapiro was always alert to his immediate surroundings, be that the texture on a wall in raking light, or a pattern of clouds r