Henry Schiowitz
was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in March 1955. From an early age he showed an interest in art, and by age 12, cast small sculptures in silver at a local jewelry store. Schiowitz shares that though he always draws and paints in conjunction with his Sculptures, such art forms due to their two dimensionality, always seemed illusory. Whereas Sculpture, being three dimensional, exists within our reality, and is tangible; appealing to his sense of living in the here and now. Sculpture is not virtual, it is real. This is where he seeks the truth. Thus by 13, Schiowitz had not only decided on Sculpture as a life-long-love, but also set up a studio in the basement of his parents' home, and his first exhibition was at the local library in 1970. Soon after, he received a commissioned project from a real estate developer, and with the proceeds, Schiowitz left for Europe to embark on a journey of self creation and expansion, specifically in the art of sculpture.
Schiowitz travelled around Europe, finally making a home in Pietrasanta, Italy. In 1974, Pietrasanta was a pantheon of world-class artists who gathered in this small town for one thing, to produce sculpture. Here Schiowitz worked with Sem Ghelardini, amongst others, for several years. To this day, Schiowitz retains a studio in Pietrassanta.
In the 1980s, Schiowitz exhibited throughout Europe and the United States. Especially in 1987 he received a commission from Gruen Watch Corporation in New York City to produce a monumental bronze. Upon completion, he traveled to Southeast Asia, settling in Mahabalipuram, India, about 60 miles south of Chennai (Madras), a place renowned for its granite carvers. During this time, he hired half a dozen craftsmen and together over a period of a year produced a body of work in black granite. These sculptures were exhibited at the U.S.I.S. Gallery at the American Consulate in Madras in 1988.
Years later Schiowitz relocated to New York City where he participated in a variety of exhibitions including an exhibition with Joseph Stella and Jacques Lipchitz. During that period he divided his time between the USA, Italy and Mexico. In 1995 he spent time in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico working in bronze, silver and the local volcanic stone. He continued to work on commissions for private collections and in 1997 had a retrospective at the Ramis Barquet Gallery in Monterrey, Mexico. From 2000 to the present, Schiowitz has concentrated on large scale sculpture.
In 2001 Schiowitz returned to Pietrasanta to carve "Reclamation of a Classical Torso" from a 5-ton block of Carrara white marble. In 2003 he established a U.S. base in Naples, Florida, continuing to divide his time between the USA and Italy.
In 2004 he conceived the design for Homage to the Masters; it depicts the head of Michelangelo's David lying on its side as an enlarged fragment of a colossal whole. The sculpture's title is a tribute to one of man's greatest artistic achievements, as well as recognition to these egoless men behind the scenes, from the quarrymen to the carvers, who have historically done much of the work with only modest and understated acknowledgement. In 2007, with investors on board, Homage to the Masters, LLC was born. Schiowitz returned to Pietrasanta and together with half a dozen craftsmen spent the proceeding four years carving the 40-ton Carrara white marble original, that concluded with a version of the same dimensions in bronze and a 17-minute documentary of the sculpture's production. Upon completion of the marble Homage to the Masters existed in its own right, no longer exclusively an homage, the title Time Fragment was incorporated.
