Manetti Shrem Museum Opens Fall Season with Exhibitions Tracing Northern California’s Rich Art History

The Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at the University of California, Davis, kicks off its 10th anniversary year with three exhibitions that explore the artistic connections and relationships among Northern California artists, and their impact on art history. The solo exhibition Woody De Othello: coming forth by day and Out of Line: Art at the Edge open Aug. 12, and Together Again, 1960-2026: Perspectives from UC Davis’ Fine Arts Collection opens Sept. 23.

“As the Manetti Shrem Museum enters its next decade, we shine light on the history of art through the lens of UC Davis and Northern California,” said Founding Director Rachel Teagle. “At the heart of this anniversary year is an investment in diversifying and expanding access to our transformed and evolving collection, and making it a vital resource for our visitors and students, researchers and art lovers everywhere.”

Woody De Othello: coming forth by day, originated by the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), features a new series of works by the Oakland-based artist that explore the primordial relationship among body, earth and spirit. Known for his hand-built ceramics, Othello animates everyday objects — clocks, mirrors, phones, vessels — blurring the line between body and object. Through material experimentation and sculptural gesture, coming forth by day considers how objects carry history, absorb meaning and serve as vessels for both spiritual and emotional experience. 

The exhibition prominently features a new bronze sculpture commissioned as the museum’s gift to UC Davis to mark its 10^th anniversary. The work, one becomes two, two becomes one, honors an important Northern California lineage of ceramic artists and expands that tradition by drawing on knowledge and philosophies from around the world. 

“Woody De Othello is one of the most prominent artists of his generation, and we're honored to be the only California venue for his exhibition,” said Associate Curator and Exhibition Department Head Susie Kantor. 

“Introducing a sculpture created for UC Davis within the broader context of Woody's overall practice adds a depth of understanding. The themes of renewal, passage and transformation provide an embodied experience within the exhibition that will resonate with students and visitors, and are echoed in the symbolism of the sculpture."

The exhibition is curated by PAMM Curator Jennifer Inacio, with the support of PAMM Curatorial Assistant Fabiana A. Sotillo. The Manetti Shrem Museum presentation is organized by Susie Kantor. (Aug. 12–Dec. 5.) 

Woody De Othello (b. 1991, Miami, Florida) holds a Master of Fine Arts from the California College of Arts, San Francisco, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Florida Atlantic University. Othello’s work was included in the 2022 Whitney Biennial and has been exhibited widely in group exhibitions at SFMOMA; Hayward Gallery, London; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery, Washington, D.C., among others. Othello has large-scale public art commissions at San Francisco International Airport, de Young Museum, Brooklyn Bridge Park, and forthcoming projects in San Jose and at John F. Kennedy Airport, New York. His work is in the permanent collections around the country. He is represented by Karma and Jessica Silverman.

The politics of the artist’s studio

Inspired by conceptual artist Bruce Nauman’s video work Dance or Exercise on the Perimeter of a Square (Square Dance), 1967–68, Out of Line: Art at the Edge explores Davis as a site of both artistic practice and political protest.

“In the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, as political and cultural upheavals reverberated across the country, artists navigated their own perimeters,” said Ginny Duncan, assistant curator. “Davis was neither epicenter nor periphery, but a charged edge: a place where boundaries were tested and redrawn, and local struggles echoed and fueled international movements.” 

Mike Henderson, Ester Hernandez, Malaquías Montoya, Bruce Nauman, Nancy Rubins, Dorothy Wiley and the student artists of UC Davis’ Third World Forum engage with film, print and performance to confront who they were and what their work meant in a world of radical change. 

During a time of attempts to restrict artistic freedom and defund artist spaces, Out of Line underscores the site of the artist’s studio as necessary for inquiry, experimentation and self-confrontation. While rooted in the politics of the late 20th century, Out of Line finds renewed meaning in the present day. 

Out of Line: Art on the Edge is curated by Ginny Duncan, assistant curator, and Grace Xiao, former curatorial assistant. (Aug. 12–Dec. 5) 

Ongoing collection galleries debut

Together Again, 1960-2026: Perspectives from UC Davis’ Fine Arts Collection is the first presentation of the museum’s new ongoing collection galleries, and will remain on view long term with timely rotations. 

The Manetti Shrem Museum opened in 2016 with a collection established by the founding artists of UC Davis’ art department, who gave generously of their own work and asked their circle of friends to do the same. As a result, the collection was deeply rooted in place, but inherently incomplete. Approximately 70% of the works shown in Together Again represent new acquisitions during the museum’s first decade. Legendary artists and alumni Wayne Thiebaud, Deborah Butterfield and Bruce Nauman are exhibited alongside important regional voices that were once overlooked. In spotlighting recent acquisitions, Together Again extends to the artists shaping Northern California today, including Sadie Barnette, Woody De Othello, Kota Ezawa and Ruby Neri, and brings new artists, perspectives and histories into dialogue with works acquired in earlier decades.

Together Again, 1960–2026 is curated by Teagle, with collection research and development by past guest curators Sampada Aranke, Ph.D. ’13; associate professor, The Ohio State University; Carlos Jackson, M.F.A. ’03; dean, Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design, University of Michigan; and Susette Min, associate professor, UC Davis. (Sept. 23–ongoing)

Support

Presenting support for one becomes two, two becomes one and Woody De Othello: coming forth by day, is provided by Maria Manetti Shrem. Major support is provided by Lorna Meyer Calas and Dennis Calas, Kellie and Jeff Hepper, Carol and Gerry Parker, Jane Rosenberg, and Gina and John Wasson. Generous support is provided by Suzanne Deal Booth and Nancy Roe. 

Art Wide Open

The Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at UC Davis is a contemporary museum for our time, committed to honoring the past and shaping the future while making art accessible and approachable for all. Home to groundbreaking art that is both global in perspective and rooted in UC Davis’ pioneering legacy, the museum builds on the university’s internationally recognized tradition of innovation across disciplines. Through exhibitions and interdisciplinary collaborations, it serves as a dynamic forum for the exchange of ideas. Since opening in 2016, the museum has become a new cultural landmark and nationally recognized university museum, earning architectural honors that include being named by ARTNews as one of the 25 Best Museum Buildings of the Past 100 Years.

Visitor Information

Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art

254 Old Davis Road, Davis, Calif.

Hours: 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Wednesday–Saturday

Admission is Free for All.