Martin Schapira

From fashion prodigy to aqua-scaper to “Ego Killer” New York native Martin Schapira uses the techniques he's acquired from years of experience in fashion and years of designing massive fish tanks to make a name for himself in the art world. Schapira's work blends together his innate creativity, the world's natural beauty and graffiti style whimsicality. After growing up working with his father as a fashion buyer, in his 20s, Schapira became co-lead designer for Okeanos, a prestigious aquascaping group, after completing over 200 projects worldwide this experience has allowed him to work hand in hand with the who's who of the architecture, interior design, and art world and his designs have been featured in over 50 worldwide publications including The New York Times, GQ, Wallpaper, Interior Design, Interview Magazine, Robb Report, and Surface. Through this job, he was able to network within the industry, which led to design opportunities and a newfound friendship with co-exhibitor, Zevi Grunewald. Other then Zevi G, Schapira has collaborated with French artist Pierre Huyghe their work has been shown at the Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.

Schapira now lives in Jackson, New Jersey, creating larger-than-life multi-media paintings that combine his interests and emphasize personal expression. His “Ego Kills” series mixes glamor with decadence. Graffiti-style paint is cascaded against wood backgrounds, much like the work of city street artists. A sense of primitive violence pervades the urban aesthetic, with 3D weaponry such as axes and arrows jutting outward. Martin's art constitutes an eclectic mix of characters and strong messages that are results of people, personal experiences, and opinions he has met and gathered over his life and travels.