The Process

Arye schedules male and female models for weekly three-hour sessions and often works on the same pose for one to two months. Arye makes a special effort to ensure the model’s comfort during these sessions. He often asks the models to pose with an item of personal significance.

Sometimes Arye will also photograph a subject from several angles. He will then use a combination of live modeling sessions and photographs to create the sculpture.

About the Artist

Arye Shapiro has been producing figurative art since 1998. He creates figure sculptures. drawings, and oil paintings primarily from life, as well as designing abstract art. His respect for people and his familiarity with European art endow his work with individual beauty, subtle grace, and quiet sensuality. Arye (pronounced “ar-ee-ay”) hones his skills with figure drawing and artistic anatomy studies. He creates sculpture in clay and bronze to model the physical structure of real people. Then, colors called him and he expanded his oeuvre to include painting from life.

“My figurative art is a vehicle for expressing human emotions and spirituality as well as physical attributes.”

For about two decades, Arye coordinated weekly life drawing, painting, and sculpture sessions in Austin, Texas. He has completed his 28th commission.  His work for private clients includes life-sized bronze busts of union leaders, a sculpture of a nude couple, a processional crucifix, an exterior tile mosaic for a friary, a painting of a beach in Hawaii, a relief sculpture for a bathroom, and an outdoor wire sculpture of three dancers.

The Process

Arye schedules male and female models for weekly three-hour sessions and often works on the same pose for one to two months. Arye makes a special effort to ensure the model’s comfort during these sessions. He often asks the models to pose with an item of personal significance.

Sometimes Arye will also photograph a subject from several angles. He will then use a combination of live modeling sessions and photographs to create the sculpture.

Art Experience and Education

2006-2020   Coordinator, weekly costume figure drawing group, Austin Visual Arts Association (AVAA), Austin, Texas

2012-2020  Coordinator, figurative painting studio with twice-weekly sessions for <6 artists in Travis Heights.

2004-2005 Instructor, Sculpture Academy of Austin, Austin, Texas

2004 Instructor, Austin Sculpture Center, Austin, Texas

1999-2004 Coordinator, weekly figure sculpture group, Austin Sculpture Center, Austin, Texas

2000-2002 Coordinator, weekly figure drawing group, Artists Coalition of Austin, Austin, Texas

2000-2002 Coordinator  “Leading Visions” seminars, Austin Visual Arts Association, Austin, Texas

2000-2002 Attended intensive sculpture workshops on the torso, portrait, and bas-relief, Loveland Academy of Fine Arts, Loveland, Colorado

1998-2000 Attended sculpture classes at Austin Sculpture Center, Austin, Texas

Commissions

“Beach in Hawaii,” oil on canvas, painting for a client in Long Beach, California

“The Wonder of Dance,” aluminum wire, exterior sculpture of three figures dancing, Austin, Texas

Three Union Leaders, bronze, life-sized portrait busts, IUOE Local 450 Union Hall, Mont Belvieu, Texas

“St. Francis, Follower of St. Michael,” tile, exterior mosaic mural, San Miguel Friary, San Antonio, Texas

“Water Bearer,” ceramic, figurative bas-relief, Lexington Park, Maryland

“Allen and BJ,” ceramic, bas-relief portrait, Austin, Texas

“Kathryn and Francesca,” ceramic, bas-relief portrait,  Dripping Springs, Texas

“Silvia” ceramic, bas-relief portrait, Leander, Texas

Processional crucifix, bronze sculpture, Lakeway, Texas, limited edition of twenty-five

“Tommy,” ceramic, bas-relief portrait, Dallas, Texas

“Marylyn,” ceramic, bas-relief portrait,  Austin, Texas

“Embracing Couple,” bronze, unique sculpture, Austin, Texas

“Male portrait study for Embracing Couple,” ceramic, Austin, Texas

“Zoe,” ceramic, child portrait,  Austin, Texas

“Job,” bronze, Austin, Texas, limited edition of ten

“Derriere” bookends, bronze, Newport Beach, California, unlimited edition, signed and numbered.

Asher Grey Gallery
Venice, CA 90291
(310) 562-0511
www.ashergreygallery.com
Online only

Solo Shows

2024

‘WELL-SEEN‘

The Beauty of the Human Form – Paintings by Arye Shapiro
Artworks Gallery
August 3 – September 28

2023

Artworks Gallery –  new paintings 
July 1 – August 12
Austin, TX

Reception for Arye’s solo show at Artworks July 8, 2023

Figurative Paintings by Arye Shapiro
May 21-June 11
The Clubhouse at The Tyndall
Austin, TX

Lecture: “The Art of Arye Shapiro: Sculpture and Paintings”
June 6
Central Texas Art League, Cultural Activities Center
Temple, Texas

2022
“Nudes from the Studio,” Online with Artsy.net through Asher Grey Gallery

2007
“Sculptfest 2007,” Umlauf Sculpture Garden, Austin, Texas

Annual Life Drawing Show, Austin Visual Arts Association (AVAA), Austin, Texas

“15th Annual Art Sale and Show,” Thornton Road Studios, Austin, Texas

2006
“Night in the Galleries,” Austin Museum of Art, Austin, Texas

“The Austin Fine Arts Festival 2006,” Austin, Texas

“The Woodlands Waterways Arts Festival 2006,” The Woodlands, Texas

The Cottonwood Art Festival, Richardson, Texas

Diocesan Fine Arts Council (DFAC) Art Show, Southwest Liturgical Conference, Austin, Texas

2005
“13th Annual Art Sale and Show,” Thornton Road Studios, Austin, Texas

“Erotica 2005,” Gallery Lombardi, Austin, Texas

“Sculptfest 2005,” Umlauf Sculpture Garden, Austin, Texas

“Celebrating Sacred Art,” St. Edward’s University, Austin, Texas

2004
“First Thursdays,” Guadalupe Arts Center, Austin, Texas.

“Interfaith Arts Festival,” Central Presbyterian Church, Austin, Texas.

“Sculptfest,” Umlauf Sculpture Garden, Austin, Texas.

2002
Faculty-Student Show, Austin Sculpture Center, Austin, Texas

“Just Been Fired,” Gallery Lombardi, Austin, Texas

Portrait Sessions at the Elisabet Ney Museum, Austin, Texa

“Sculptfest” Umlauf Sculpture Garden, Austin, Texas

2001
“Holiday at ACA,” The Artists Coalition of Austin Gallery, Austin, Texas

Sculptfest 2001, Charles Umlauf Sculpture Park, Austin, Texas

“Au Naturel,” The Artists Coalition of Austin’s annual life drawing show, Austin, Texas

Chocolate Fantasy and Fine Art Auction, a benefit for the Waterloo AIDS Counseling Center, Austin, Texas

2000
“Pearls Before Swine,” juried art show, Depot Street Art Gallery, Elgin, Texas

Sculptfest 2000, Charles Umlauf Sculpture Park, Austin, Texas

“Art From the Heart,” twenty-third annual Austin Visual Arts Association (AVAA) membership exhibition and art auction, Austin, Texas

“In the Raw,” The Artists Coalition of Austin’s annual life drawing show, Austin, Texas

“Real Art for Real People,” Texas Society of Sculptors’ annual juried art exhibition, Austin, Texas

1999
“Attachments,” Texas Clay Artists Association’s first annual members show, Austin, Texas

1996
“Flamboyant Fountains, Fallacious Furniture and Fastidious Females,” Gallery Lombardi, Austin, Texas

“On My Own Time,” Finalists City-Wide Employee Art Exhibition, Franklin Federal Bank Plaza, Austin, Texas (1st and 2nd prizes for sculpture).

Publications

The New York Optimist’s “Interview with Artist & Physicist Dr. Arye Shapiro,” October 7, 2022.

Karen Kreps, Intimacies: Secrets of Love, Sex & Romance (Net Ingenuity Publishing, Austin, TX, 2007). Illustrated with photos of original sculpture by Arye Shapiro.

Karen Leach, “Art in Real Space,” The Good Life, Oct. 2005 (Panache Publishing, Austin, TX, 2005) pg. 41.

Arye Shapiro, “Bas-relief Sculpture in Central Texas,” Art Lover’s Guide vol. 2, pg. 31 (2005).

Rachel Koper, “Sculpture in Central Texas Takes Many Forms,” Art Lover’s Guide vol. 1, pg. 40 (2004).