He's associated with the Cubist movement and was known for introducing the idea of negative space (i.e. "holes") into modern sculpture. In 1912, he had his first solo show in Germany, opened the first of his many art schools, joined the Section d'Or group (with Georges Braque, Marcel Duchamp and Pablo Picasso, among others), created one of the first known multimedia sculptures with wood, glass and wire, and elaborated on this style with reliefs produced from carved and painted plaster. He became a U.S. citizen in 1928 and taught for the next 30 years at art schools and universities across the country. He's the late, great Ukranian-American artist, Alexander Archipenko, and he's the subject of Archipenko 2D/3D, a Museum of Fine Arts exhibit that features 12 of his sculptures and 25 large-scale prints. A special, related lecture, "Alexander Archipenko's Exploration of Dynamic Form in Space," is presented by Dr. Dorothea Dietrich of the Corcoran College of Art + Design (4 p.m. Sat., May 20). Through July 23, 255 Beach Drive N.E., St. Petersburg, $8 adults/$7 seniors/$4 students and ages 7-18, 727-896-2667, www.fine-arts.org.
This article appears in May 17-23, 2006.