Richard Shaw is one of the most respected and widely collected artists in contemporary ceramics, internationally recognized for his masterful trompe l’oeil sculptures. Emerging from the San Francisco Bay Area art scene in the late 1960s, Shaw has spent decades refining an extraordinary ability to transform clay into remarkably convincing replicas of everyday objects—books, playing cards, tools, and other artifacts of daily life. His meticulously crafted works blur the line between reality and illusion, inviting viewers to question what is genuine and what is merely appearance. Drawing from mass culture and a rich vocabulary of found objects, Shaw creates intimate still lifes, complex figures, and deeply personal assemblages. Combining technical virtuosity, humor, and conceptual depth, he animates the ordinary with the imagination of a storyteller, breathing new life into the detritus of the studio. Through these layered compositions, Shaw explores themes of memory, identity, and the narratives embedded within the objects that surround us. BORN1941, Hollywood (Los Angeles), California, USA EDUCATIONMFA, Ceramics, University of California, Davis — 1968 BFA, San Francisco Art Institute — 1965 Studied briefly at New York State College of Ceramics, Alfred University ACEDEMIC POSITIONSProfessor of Ceramics, University of California, Berkeley — 1987–2012 (later emeritus) Faculty, San Francisco Art Institute — 1966–1987 AWARDSShaw has received the following awards: 2000: Marin Arts Council Board Award, San Rafael, California1998: Shigaraki Cultural Ceramic Park, Shigaraki, Japan1998: Artist in Residence, Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts1996: Annual Life Member Award, Falkirk Arts Center, San Rafael, California1988: Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts Degree, San Francisco Art Institute1987: Visiting Artist Grant, Atelier Experimental de Recherche et de Création, Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres, Paris, France1974: National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship1971: National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship MUSEUM COLLECTIONSShaw is represented in the following museum collections: Museum of Arts and Design, New York, New YorkNational Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, JapanOakland Museum of California, Oakland, CaliforniaRacine Art Museum, Racine, WisconsinRenwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DCSan Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CaliforniaStedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the NetherlandsUtah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UtahDe Young Museum, San Francisco, CA SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONSShaw's solo exhibitions around the United States include: 2014: Richard Shaw: Ceramic Sculptures, B. Sakata Garo, Sacramento, California2010: Richard Shaw: Four Decades of Ceramics, Sonoma County Museum, Santa Rosa, California2007: Richard Shaw: Working Drawings from Studio Sketchbooks, Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, California2003: Trompe l'Oeil Ceramics, Mobilia Gallery, Cambridge, Massachusetts1998: Master's Touch, Tempe Art Center, Tempe, Arizona1990: Palo Alto Cultural Center, Palo Alto, California1987: The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii1983: Madison Art Center, Madison, Wisconsin1979: Braunstein / Quay Gallery, San Francisco. California SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS2023: Old Friends- Richard Shaw & Willard Dixon, Andra Norris Gallery, Burlingame, CaliforniaShaw's work has been included in the following group exhibitions around the United States: 2017: Variations on a Theme: Teapots from RAM's Collection, Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin2016: Order & Nature, Anglim Gilbert Gallery, San Francisco, California2013: New Blue and White: Contemporary Art and Design, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston, Massachusetts2013: Top 10 at 10: Favorites from RAM's Collection, Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin2012: Crafting Modernism, Midcentury American Art and Craft, Museum of Art and Design, New York, New York2012: Indelibly Yours: Smith Anderson Editions and the Tattoo Project, de Saisset Museum, Santa Clara, California2012: Invite and Ignite: the 25th Exhibitions Anniversary and Symposium, New Castle, Maine2011: Not So Still Life, Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin2007: The Reality of Things: Trompe l'Oeil in America, Vero Beach Museum, Vero Beach, Florida2005: I Hope You Learned Your Lesson, Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, Sonoma, California2004: Masters of Illusion: 150 Years of Trompe l'Oeil in America, Kresge Art Museum, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan2002: Something, Anything, Matthew Marks Gallery, New York, New York2000: Expanded Visions, Bayly Art Museum, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia1995: Altered and Irrational, Selected Works from the Permanent Collection, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York1994: The Ritual Vessel, Perimeter Gallery, Chicago, Illinois