CCG Art Market SF 2023 - Reniel Del Rosario

Art Market | San Francisco

April 20 – 23, 2023 | Booth C05

The Museum of Found Objects (MOFO)

Reniel Del Rosario

The Museum of Found Objects (MOFO)

TheMuseumofFoundObjects(MOFO)is a body of work that focuses on the ceramic appropriation of artworks and objects primarily sourced from online museum archives, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The objects are displayed in a setting which evokes a poorly run and underresearched museum.

MOFO was a project I began during my residency at Sonoma Ceramics. My intention was to play with the notion that art objects are often appraised by their contexts alone. In an art world primarily motivated by markets, artworks are categorized by their value (historical, cultural, and monetary), and some fall through the cracks and are never put on the same pedestals as others, if they are recognized at all. Within these categorizations, objects can be cast off as second-rate or idolized through an exotified anthropological lens. While some objects will garner cult followings that understand their real merits in time, until then, they exist through those who hold the knowledge of their existence and those who choose to share them with the world.

Through this body of work, I do not criticize the artists themselves, for the most part. Rather, I critique how legacies are chosen and erased through almost arbitrary connotations of value resulting from consumer markets, Eurocentricity, and privileges of race, gender, etc. The concept of institutions, such as museums and public and/or private collections, guiding the public's tastes and exposure to artwork, leads to blind spots. Many artworks will never be in the limelight for a multitude of reasons, such as a lack of immediate popularity, a lack of understanding, or lack of interest from funders. Whatever the reason, the rift created follows the individual works indefinitely.

In The Museum of Found Objects, I use this opportunity to combine works into layered and comical – and intentionally confusing – mixtures that critique the divide among objects that institutions build upon. The works are bootlegged in clay from sources such as screenshots from online museum collections, pages from out-of-print catalogues, bookmarks from social media, and stills from documentaries (and typically from one image alone, with many of their edges, backsides, and level-sitting sides and scale left up to the imagination). These works are then further taken out of context with wall labels that emphasize them as objects they are not (e.g., a Ken Price cup as a relic from the volcanic explosion at Pompeii, a guitar made by a child as a Pablo Picasso sculpture, and an early Martin Wong piece as a taxidermized cryptid from Indonesia).

Through this installation, I want to mimic mishandlings, malaprops, and mistakes some of which I have observed in real museums. I believe it's essential to make fun of them - the mistakes, not the artworks for which I have a deep appreciation. The mistakes are often hidden behind the grandeur of art and the illusion of an all-knowing and correct/justified institution. I am just doing what museums occasionally do - mishandling works by composing them out of their original intention, falsely attributing them to the wrong artist or with the wrong history, overly glorifying certain fields of knowledge and some artists over others, and of course, looting them from where they belong. This body of work furthers my installations of fake establishments to continue exploring the value of art itself as an object. How do pieces of art fit into our globally marketfocused world? How are they commodified? On what is their value based? How do museums, galleries, and social structures of power and inequity shape our perceptions of what is valuable art and what is not?

– Reniel Del Rosario

Reniel Del Rosario (b. Iba, Philippines) uses ceramics, quantity, and satire to discuss themes of commodification and value. His projects range from interactive mimicries of consumer establishments, reimaginings of artifacts, and imperfect copies of already-existing objects. He holds a BA in Art Practice from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a 2019 recipient of the Center for Craft’s Windgate-Lamar fellowship, a 2022 SFMOMA Artists Soapbox Derby racer, and has been featured in publications such as Artforum and Bon Appetit. His work has been exhibited internationally through traditional and alternative venues such as the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Catharine Clark Gallery, Jane Lombard Gallery, Meta Open Arts, and simply on the public sidewalk. In 2023, Del Rosario will have a solo exhibition at Praise Shadows in Brookline, MA curated by Yng -Ru Chen.

11 x 22 x 23 inches

$2,800

Aftermath of Singing 'My Way' by Frank Sinatra at a Karaoke Bar, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

9 1/2 x 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches

$650

Ancient Attic Greek Vessel in the Form of a Dog, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

Ancient Attic Greek Vessel in the Form of a Hare, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

9 1/2 x 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches

$650

6 x 5 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches

$400

Ancient Portrayal of Geoduck Harvesting, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

Beaver, 2022 – 2023.

4 x 2 x 1 1/2 inches

Ceramic

$200

Approx. 12.5 x 10 x 2 inches individually

Approx. 44 x 36 x 2 inches installed

$3,500

Charger Plates, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

11 3/4 x 21 1/2 x 1 3/4 inches

$1,500

Chunks of the Robin Williams Tunnel in Sausalito, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

Cup Depicting Helen of Troy, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

5 x 9 1/2 x 6 inches

$600

Cup Depicting Horus, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

8 x 9 x 6 1/2 inches

$600

Definitely a Fragment of a Plate, 2022 – 2023.

8 x 7 1/2 x 1/2 inches

$400

Ceramic

7 x 12 x 8 inches

Dehydrated and Preserved Watermelon, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

$1,400

Disposable Plate, 2022 – 2023.

8 x 8 x 3 inches

$400

Ceramic

Plant, 2022 – 2023.

Dying

Ceramic

9 x 12 x 11 inches

$600

4 1/2 x 6 1/2 x 2 inches

$400

Early Police Sketch of Culprit, 2022 – 2023. Ceramic

2 x 11 x 2 inches

Early Toblerone Bar Concept, 2022 – 2023

Ceramic

$300

Early Trojan Mascot, 2022 – 2023

Ceramic

11 x 8 x 6 inches

$800

Fixed Museum-Quality Antique, 2022 – 2023.

6 x 5 1/2 x 4 inches

Ceramic

$250

Fossilized Ice Cream, 2022 – 2023

Ceramic

11 x 12 x 6 inches

$1,300

Fragment of a Hand Knocking on a Door, 2022 – 2023. Ceramic

3 x 5 1/2 x 5 inches

$400

33

$2,000

Guitar, 2022 – 2023

Ceramic

x 8 x 5 inches

Head for a Superhero Mannequin, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic 12 1/2 x 10 x 9 inches

$1,300

Head of a Gorgon Woman, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

12 x 12 x 11 inches

$1,600

Heart, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

2 1/2 x 9 1/2 x 10 inches

$400

Horse Plate, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

12 x 12 1/2 x 1 inches

$400

5 x 8 x 4 1/2 inches

King's Chalice, 2022 – 2023

Ceramic

$500

Leftover Cup from Volcanic Explosion, 2022 – 2023. Ceramic

5 x 9 x 7 inches

$1,000

Oinochoe, 2022 – 2023. Ceramic

10 x 11 x 10 inches

$1,300

5 1/4 x 7 x 3 inches

Piece of the Sagrada Familia, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

$400

Pile of Depression Dishes, 2022 – 2023

Ceramic

8 1/2 x 8 x 8 inches

$1,600

Portrait of a King, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic 16 x 12 x 9 inches

$2,500

Portrait of an Asian Woman, 2022 – 2023. Ceramic

9 x 10 x 12 inches

$2,000

Puppy, 2022 – 2023. Ceramic

12 x 15 x 7 inches

$1,500

Rabbit Plate, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

12 x 12 x 1 inches

$400

Reliquary Cross, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

25 x 24 x 10 inches

$4,000

Remnants from the RMS Titanic, 2022 – 2023.

11 x 13 x 15 inches

Ceramic

$2,500

Romulus and Remus, 2022 – 2023

Ceramic

7 x 9 x 5 inches

$1,400

Salad Plate, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

2 1/2 x 15 x 9 inches

$700

Sarcophagi Mask, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

14 x 10 x 11 inches

$1,800

Scholar's Rock, 2022 – 2023.

14

Ceramic

x 12 x 11 inches

$2,500

Sculpture Depicting Death, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

10 x 14 x 7 inches

$1,800

Sculpture of Bastet, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

12 x 11 x 8 1/2 inches

$1,600

6 1/2 x 10 x 5 1/2 inches

$800

Severed Horse Head, 2022 – 2023. Ceramic

Souvenir from Dave the Psychic Potter, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic 13 x 12 x 12 inches

$1,800

24 1/2 x 17 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches

$2,000

Tallus Mater (Madre Tallo/Stem Mother), 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

Taxidermized Hunting Dog, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

17 1/2 x 13 x 13 inches

$3,500

Taxidermized Spiny-Back Chimpanzee, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic 24 x 11 x 13 inches

$4,500

Tee Bowl, 2022 – 2023. Ceramic

7 1/2 x 7 x 7 inches

$600

The Thinker, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

23 1/2 x 15 x 10 inches

$3,500

Underproofed Pizza, 2022 – 2023.

2 1/2 x 12 x 11 inches

$600

Ceramic

8 x 7 x 7 inches

Vessel for Containing Tapioca Pearls, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

$600

Worship Statuette, 2022 – 2023.

10 1/2 x 6 x 4 inches

$800

Ceramic

Depicting Early Concept of the Cosmos (Presumably Destroyed by the Catholic Church), 2022 – 2023.

17 x 17 x 16 inches

$2,000

Vase

Ceramic

Architectural Mesoamerican Ballgame Hoop, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic 12 x 5 x 16 inches

$1,300

African Mask, 2022 – 2023. Ceramic

13 x 10 1/2 x 3 inches

$1,500

Extremely Important Fragments, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic Dimensions variable

$1,400

15 x 13 x 17 inches

$4,000

Unknown Sculpture Pulled from the Deepest Part of the Bay, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

of a Totem Pole, 2022 – 2023.

15 x 10 x 9 inches

$1,800

Segment

Ceramic

Collection of Oriental Cups, 2022 – 2023.

3 1/2 x 36 x 5 inches

$600

Ceramic

12 x 12 x 4 inches

Props for 'Painting, Smoking, Eating', 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

$800

American Advertising Jug, 2022 – 2023.

Early

Ceramic

10 x 14 x 13 inches

$1,600

Untitled from Rene Magritte’s ‘Bad Paintings’ , 2022 – 2023.

8 1/2 x 14 x 1 1/2 inches

$1,500

Ceramic

Melting Snowball from Bliz-aard Ball Sale, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

7 x 10 x 11 inches

$1,800

4 1/2 x 10 x 9 inches

$1,200

Shitting Birds, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

Sculpture Depicting Cerberus, Guard Dog of the Underworld, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

$3,000

Funk John, 2022 – 2023.

Ceramic

12 x 10 x 8 inches

$3,500

GIFTSHOP

Commemorative T-shirt (... Rediscovery Awaits), 2022 – 2023. Edition of 19 $30

Commemorative Mug (Mug Mug), 2022 – 2023.

Edition of 10

$30

Commemorative Mug (Anthropological Array Mug), 2022 – 2023.

Edition of 10

$30

Commemorative Eraser (Erasing History), 2022 – 2023. Edition of 50

$5

Commemorative Pencil (Rewriting History), 2022 – 2023. Edition of 432

$1

Commemorative Enamel Pin, 2022 – 2023. Edition of 50

$10

Commemorative Button Pins (Loot Box Treasures), 2022 – 2023. Edition of 100

$2