Arlene Shechet

Throughout her illustrious career, Arlene Shechet received numerous prestigious awards and honors. She has received the Artist Fellowship Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (1987) and the CAA Artist Award for Distinguished Body of Work (2016).

Arlene Shechet’s Art Style

Arlene Shechet is recognized as a sculptor who seamlessly blends disparate elements, creates precarious and provisional arrangements, and explores visual paradoxes that blur traditional boundaries.

Shechet's sculptures defy gravity, appearing to tilt, contort, bend, and melt, giving the impression of perpetual motion. Through her art, she explores the expressive possibilities of materials and forms, compelling viewers to confront and navigate their inherent contradictions. Balancing technical precision with intuitive creativity, her work embraces improvisation while delving into the humor and pathos inherent in the human experience.  

Since beginning her work with clay in 2007, Shechet has significantly influenced the field of ceramics. She experiments with glazes, hybrid forms, and pedestals, emphasizing the duality of clay—its malleability and durability, fragility and strength. 

Exhibitions of Arlene Shechet's Works

Her solo exhibitions include "Girl Group" at Storm King Art Center in New Windsor (2024), "Next Sentence" at Pace Gallery in Palm Beach (2023), "Disrupt the View" at Harvard Art Museums in Cambridge (2022), "Moon in the Morning" at Pace Gallery in Hong Kong (2022), "Best Picture" at Vielmetter Gallery in Los Angeles (2022), and many more.

Shechet's work is featured in more than fifty public collections globally, including prestigious institutions such as The Centre Pompidou in Paris, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in California, the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.