In 2000, Shaw staged a show at the ICA, London, of "Thrift Store Paintings"—paintings he had collected by (mostly anonymous) amateur artists in America. Some reactions to this show included Adrian Searle of "The Guardian" stating "The paintings are awful, indefensible, crapulous…", "these people can't draw, can't paint; these people should never be left alone with a paintbrush", and "The Thrift Store Paintings are fascinating, alarming, troubled and funny. Scary too, just like America." For Sarah Kent of "Time Out": "Critics professing to be gobsmacked by these efforts can never have seen an amateur art show or walked along the railings of the Bayswater road. They should get out more." In 1999-2000, Shaw had his first major European retrospective touring at the Casino Luxembourg and at the MAMCO in Geneva.