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Richard Shaw (Born 1940) |
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Origami
Steamship, 2002
Porcelain, 5 x 13.5 x 11. 25 inches
Courtesy of Frank Lloyd gallery, Santa Monica
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| In
the 30 years between the making of these pieces, Richard Shaw
would seem to have changed from vessel-making potter
to trompe
l’oeil sculptor, but all the work contains hollow places
which could contain things, so even the striding stick figures
of recent years remain vessels of a sort. The can, domino box,
book, or paint box is the vessel; the lids and knobs are the boats,
apples, saucers, and letters lying on top. Using porcelain, slip-mould
casting, and silkscreen technology, he is able to challenge the
viewer’s perception of the seen object, to fool the eye into
believing it is seeing an origami steamship made of currency on
a book or two rocks, one atop the other.
Born to artist parents in Hollywood, California, Shaw attended
Orange Coast College, the San Francisco Art Institute (BFA) and
UC Davis (MFA) where he studied with Robert Arneson and William
Wiley. Like them he is considered a seminal member of the Funk
and Super-Object movement that emerged in the Bay area during
the 1960s. It is characterized by mixed genres, figurative and
abstract, found objects and unconventional materials and processes,
and narrative, humorous, personal and pop culture elements.
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