Exhibition Spotlight: Changing Faces by Robert Sherman
Gallery view, Changing Faces, at Art Lab Gallery. Image courtesy of Art Lab.
Changes Faces: The Mosaic Art of Robert Sherman, on view at Art Lab through November 29, 2025, features 38 pieces by the local artist spanning nearly 50 years.
Changing Faces, currently on view at the Art Lab Gallery located at Snug Harbor, is a detailed exploration of Staten Island-based visual artist Robert Sherman's fifty-year body of work. The exhibition features 38 pieces, combining masks created during Sherman's ritual performances in the 1970s with intricate mosaics spanning several decades, interwoven with mythological symbolism and the self.
Sherman was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, and moved to New York City in the 1960s to pursue a career in acting. His practice evolved when he began studying under Paulus Berensohn, a prolific potter whose craft was influenced by his time as a dancer. Sherman developed a mask-making technique, "Acting in Clay," in which he molded wet clay onto his face and manifested his internal expressiveness through ritual performance. These masks were informed by non-Western aesthetic traditions, such as Japanese raku firing. In Sherman's practice, the mask functions as a conduit of transformation and becoming, leaving behind a material trace of who he was at the moment of its creation.
The mosaics on view combine ceramic tiles, mirrors, and photolithography—a process that uses light to transfer a pattern or image onto a surface, in this instance, clay. Sherman's ingenuity lies in his technique–forgoing the traditional grout associated with mosaic work to position the tiles side by side. The result is akin to a tone poem or jazz composition. As Sherman's artist statement notes, mosaics are "an ever-evolving improvisation. Starting with a theme and color palette, I surround myself with piles of my own fired ceramic tiles: hand-stamped, crystal-glazed and broken into shards, along with squares of shimmering colored mirror glass."
Birth of a Mask (2021), ceramic tile, mirror glass, photolithography on clay.
What stands out among these pieces are the glazed photographs that draw on Sherman's early performance days, set between tiles. In Birth of a Mask (2021), several black-and-white photos of a young Sherman are placed—one at the center, the others as spokes of a wheel. The images depict him placing the mask over his face, conveying his methodology. Through multiple photos at different stages of the masking process, we witness Sherman's subjectivity come to life. In The Oracle (2019), Sherman presents broken clay pieces of a photograph, with his hands cupping his masked face, surrounded by mirror glass and blue tile. The cracked mirror glass can be seen as a way to both fragment and reflect the viewer's own image.
Blessed Mother 2 (2022, detail), ceramic tile, mirror glass, photolithography on clay
During a recent artist talk, Sherman discussed his interest in creating work with mythical, biblical, literary, and political imagery. These references are evident in many of his titles, which include Apollo Rising, Temptation, Hear No Evil, The Center Doesn't Hold, and Election 2016. Recent works evoke the current political climate while also harkening to literature ranging from William Butler Yeats to Joseph Campbell and comparative mythology. Yet, even with these touchpoints, the work remains abstract and layered, and even contains some humor. Blessed Mother 2 (2022), for example, superimposes his own mother's face onto an image of Mary, mother of Jesus.
While the exhibition is only up through November 29, those interested can visit Sherman's website to learn more about his work. At the artist talk, the enthusiastic crowd encouraged him to pursue more opportunities to display his work publicly. As a retired art teacher, he is no stranger to museum spaces. Sherman was a CETA artist in the 1970s, has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and was an artist-in-residence at the Brooklyn Museum. Notably, Sherman's masks were included in the Whitney Museum's Modern Masks exhibition (1984) and featured in Tiffany's Fifth Avenue windows.
The exhibition highlights Sherman's ability to weave together light, color, motion, and meaning–the tenets of his work–in a way that is accessible and still evolving. While this project can be seen as a retrospective, much of the work on view was created in the past decade, indicating that he still has a lot to say. Sherman's masks and mosaics deliver a compelling pairing of traditional and innovative techniques, embodiment and materiality, and use of the self as a conduit to connect the past with the present.
Robert Sherman during the artist talk at Art Lab, November 23, 2025.
Visit Robert Sherman’s website at https://www.robertshermanmosaics.com/
Art Lab is located at Snug Harbor, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Building H - 2nd Floor, Staten Island, NY 10301. To learn more, visit https://artlabsi.com/
The gallery is open 7 days a week: Monday through Thursday, 10 AM - 7 PM, and Friday through Sunday, 10 AM - 4 PM.
Please note that Art Lab will be closed on Thursday, 11/27, and Friday, 11/28.
Melissa West is a choreographer and curator based in Staten Island, NY. She is the Director & Senior Curator of the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor, and co-founder of the Shaolin Art Party. West is dedicated to creating local opportunities and innovative cultural experiences for artists and audiences alike. mwestdances.nyc