Reniel Del Rosario & Richard Shaw

Cluttered Heads presents a cross-generational conversation, featuring Marin-based artist Richard Shaw and emerging North Bay ceramicist Reniel Del Rosario. This exhibition highlights clay as a vital medium in Bay Area culture, tracing its evolution from the Funk Movement of the 1960s and 70s to today. Exploring themes of artistic influence, material transmission, and collaboration, the show celebrates Shaw's legendary career alongside Del Rosario's playful, performative work.

Richard Shaw (b. 1941 Los Angeles) transforms everyday objects into striking ceramics, using trompe l'oeil techniques to create pieces that defy expectations. His mastery of porcelain casting, overglaze details, and assemblage imbues his work with a blend of humor and the surreal, capturing the poetic, the comedic and the uncanny.

Reniel Del Rosario (b. 1997 Iba, Philippines) brings his own inventive energy to clay. His deliberately imperfect, hand-built pieces reimagine consumer spaces and historic artifacts, while challenging societal value systems. Del Rosario attributes his love of ceramics and his ascension in the contemporary clay art world to Richard Shaw's historic and pedagogical influence. Together, Shaw and Del Rosario push the boundaries of ceramics, turning the everyday into something extraordinary.

Collaborative works by Richard Shaw and his artist wife, Martha Shaw will also be on display.

Co-curated by Natasha Boas and Jodi Roberts

Cluttered Heads is made possible through the generous support of the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art's Board of Directors.