John Ahearn is best known as a sculptor who uses plaster or fiberglass to create life-casts of figures. Born in Binghampton, New York in 1951, Ahearn later attended Cornell University and settled in the Bronx. Originally trained as a painter, Ahearn began making casts of his friends and neighbors at the suggestion of his apprentice and later collaborator Rigoberto Torres.

His first casts, taken of the people in his South Bronx neighborhood, were exhibited in 1980. He created his sculptures from predominantly working-class subjects near his home. His work is a social commentary on the American scene, portraying individuals in ordinary settings complete with specific attributes of the sitter, from clothing to hairstyles. He has active...