FRAME 1A Gallery in Alameda, California presents Shelf Life, a solo exhibition by Oakland-based multidisciplinary artist James Shefik. This contemporary art exhibition features photographic works created from small, temporary sculptures made with everyday materials, food, and remnants from the artist's studio practice. Through photography and scale, these fleeting assemblages are transformed into images that are humorous, unsettling, and unexpectedly monumental.

About

Shelf Life began in a studio class that changed everything. As a mixed media sculptor whose work is social-political in nature, the artist was accustomed to pieces that take weeks or months to complete. The Bridge Program stripped that process away, demanding 3–5 new pieces each night from the scraps and leavings of larger projects.

What emerged was something unexpected — small, transient sculptures, some using food as a component, all built spontaneously and without the weight of the "serious" work. The practice continued at home, driven by a joy in making that the long-term pieces had quietly buried.

The camera became a natural ally, not as a shift in practice but as an extension of it. Photographing these small assemblages elevated them, focused the viewer's attention, and gave the objects a presence they couldn't hold on their own. Printing the images at a large scale further distorts each piece's materials and minuscule dimensions —what was once inches becomes something monumental.

About the Artist

James Shefik is an Oakland-based multidisciplinary artist whose work explores the social and political absurdities that accompany power, authority, and contemporary culture. Working primarily in sculpture, as well as assemblage, drawing, and photography, he transforms familiar materials into works that are simultaneously humorous, unsettling, and deeply reflective.

Shefik often subverts common cultural symbols and ordinary objects through meticulous handcraft and material transformation. Though his works may appear to be assemblages of found objects, each piece is carefully constructed by hand. This commitment to labor and detail serves as a response to a culture increasingly shaped by digital instant gratification, shortened attention spans, and the growing presence of artificial intelligence in everyday life.

In 2023, his sculpture Hollow was selected for the de Young Open and acquired by the de Young Museum for its permanent collection. His work has also been exhibited at 120710 Gallery, Aqua Art Fair, Minnesota Street Project, Richmond Art Center, and Sanchez Art Center. Shefik is the recipient of an SF Weekly Mastermind Grant, and his work is held in numerous private collections.

Upcoming exhibitions include KnK Contemporary, San Francisco (July 2–26, 2026) and the Los Angeles Mural Conservancy, Los Angeles (May 23–September 6, 2026).