About the Artist
Barry Shapiro is a graduate of Pratt Institute, with a BFA in painting and printmaking, where he studied with renowned artists James Grashow (drawing and printmaking), Vasilios Toulis (printmaking), Rudolph Baranik (painting), Franklin Faust (painting) and Audrey Flack (painting). He then spent two years working as an apprentice art restorer, using those skills to advance his personal artistic vision. However, he left the Manhattan art scene and traveled extensively around the globe for several years. He cites these adventures as major influences in his life and art.
“I admit to having wanderlust. I love to travel and have new experiences, tastes, visual stimulus. I’ve never been able to sit still, especially in my work. I love to try new styles, mediums and introduce new influences to my painting. I like to play with it, have fun with it. The thing that drives me is the experience, not the result. So when a piece works, feels right, it’s most rewarding.”
Returning to New York, he began his career and working as an illustrator, designing books, magazine covers and corporate art. He was a regular contributor to New York Magazine, the New York Times and Travel and Leisure. His advertising clients included Fortune 500 companies and top ad agencies.
He then segued to a second career in film and video, winning numerous awards, including an Emmy and a Clio as a producer and director and later as an art director and copywriter, developing successful product launches for Fortune 500 companies and marketing for charitable causes.
All the while, he was developing a very personal style of art using pastels, acrylics and oils. He continues his dual passions of film and fine art. His portraits and landscapes are to be found in private collections around the world. Barry teaches classes in painting, drawing and creative thinking and is the author of a screenplay about the French artist Suzanne Valadon.
He resides in Vero Beach, Florida with his wife Patricia Miles.
Recent exhibitions include The Nathan B. Rosen Museum Gallery (Boca Raton, FL), Gallery Pelar (Greenport, NY), Landmark Gallery (Kingston, NY), Galerie Nouvelle (New York, NY), The Center for Spiritual Care, Lighthouse Gallery and The Emerson Center (Vero Beach, FL) and the Brownstone Art Gallery (Brooklyn, NY).