Mary Curtis Ratcliff

My current work begins with photographs abstracted from nature.  Sometimes I further develop these compositions through applying layers of acrylic wash, drawing, transfer and collage. Recently, while continuing to use photographic imagery, I have returned to 3-dimensional art, developed kinetic, sculptural works that are suspended and turn in space.  The resulting artworks serve as a means to discover the interconnectedness of things: new associations emerge across the changing space of the images.

I studied sculpture at the Rhode Island School of Design and then participated in the early video movement in New York City.  Since that time, my artwork has been featured in over twenty solo exhibitions and a hundred group shows.  It is represented in the collections of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and the Oakland Museum of California.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2024

 ● Aviary, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA

 2023

 ● TheMaryCurtis Ratcliff Group Show, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA

 2022

 ● Casting Shadows, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA

 ● Encounters with Water and Light, 500 Terry Francois, San Francisco, CA

2021

• Motion Variations, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA
• Meditation with Trees, Siy Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2020

• ScrapWorks, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA
• Healing Circle Artworks Relaxation Meditation (video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUmzg6vRoX8.

2019

• Circles on Cedar, Cedar Street Gallery, Berkeley, CA

2018

• Circumference, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA
• Waterways, Berkeley YWCA, Berkeley, CA

2016

• Full Circle, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA

2015

• Arborescence: Art in the Vineyard, Napa, CA

2014

• Eye to Eye, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA

2013

• Light and Gravity, The Temporary Contemporary Gallery, Sacramento, CA

2013

• Charismatic Fauna, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA

2012

• Divine; A Miscellany of Timeless Works, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA

2011

• Encounters with Light, Mercury 20, Oakland, CA

2010

• Small Worlds… and Large, Mercury 20, Oakland, CA

2009

• Patterns of Emergence, Hess Gallery, Chestnut Hill, MA

2006

• Arborescence, ArtScape Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA

2005

• Surface Fancy, Craft & Cultural Arts Gallery, Oakland, CA

2004

• Dolls & Goddesses, Pro Arts East Bay Open Studios, Berkeley, CA
• Traveling West, Berkeley Arts Festival, Berkeley, CA

2003

• Small Celebrations, Southern Coos Hospital & Medical Center, Bandon, OR

2001

• Transfer of Memory, Art Foundry Gallery, Sacramento, CA

2000

• Ten Days in Shimabara, Gentoshiya Gallery, Shimabara, Japan
• Memory Park, Coal Shed Studio Gallery, Mare Island, CA

1997

• Window Dressing, Addison Street Windows, Berkeley, CA

1996

• Unlikely Sculpture, Santa Rosa Junior College, Petaluma, CA

1994

• On the Wall, Standing Tall, Solano Community College, Suisun, CA
• Ritual Fashion, Meridian Gallery, San Francisco

1993

• University of the Pacific Gallery, University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA

1990

• Selected Sculptures, 1974-1990, Christopher’s Café , Berkeley, CA

1989

• Sculptures and Performance Pieces, Sumitomo Bank, San Francisco, CA

1982

• Ribbon Sculpture, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA

1980

• New Work, Central Street Studio, San Francisco, CA

1974

• Opening Exhibition, San Francisco Women’s Art Center, San Francisco, CA

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2022

• M20 @ XV, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA

2021

• 4 x 8 Bridges, San Francisco, CA
• Building Bridges, Breaking Barriers, Ruth’s Table, San Francisco, CA
• Future Memories. Utopia Dystopia Nature, Singing Waves Gallery, City                     University, Hong Kong
• Geometric Abstractions, Mercury 20, Oakland, CA

2020

• Truth/Dare, Part 2: DARE, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA

2019

• Truth/Dare, Part 1: TRUTH, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA
• Civic Center Art Exhibition, City of Berkeley City Hall, Berkeley, CA
• Self-Portraits in the Age of Selfies, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA

2018

• Everything is Connected: Art and Conspiracy, Met Breuer, New York City, NY
• Generation: The 2018 UC Berkeley Art Alumni Exhibition, Worth Ryder Gallery, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

2017

• Here: BAC Artists Annual Exhibition, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA

2016

• M20 @ 10, Mercury20 Gallery, Oakland, CA

2015

• A Common Thread: Oakland, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA

2014

• Annual Members Show, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA
• Civic Arts Exhibition, City of Berkeley, City Hall, Berkeley, CA
• Transformation of Connectivity, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA

2013

• Small Works: Delectable and Collectible, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA

2012

• Ancient Lives, Mythos Fine Art and Artifacts, Berkeley, CA
• Artists of the West Marin Review 4, Point Reyes Station, CA
• After the Fall, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA
• smART phone, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA
• Michigan, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA
• Videofreex Mayday Realtime, Anthology Film Archive, New York, NY
• From Here to There, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA

2011

• Sign Language, Mythos Gallery, Berkeley, CA
• Shine, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA
• Natural Vision/Dreams and Apparitions, Mythos Gallery, Berkeley, CA
• Of Water, The Bay Model, Sausalito, CA
• Small Worlds, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA
• Flow Patterns, The Atrium, San Francisco, CA
• Mercury Rising, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA
• Mississippi Rising, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA
• Gendered Images: The Feminine Divine, Doug Adams Gallery, Berkeley, CA

2010

• Mercury Multiples: editions of exponential art, Mercury 20, Oakland, CA
• Green, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA.
• Behind the Curtain: The Unseen, Mythos Fine Art & Artifacts, Berkeley, CA
• Group Exhibition, Mercury 20, Oakland, CA
• Journeys, Cheese Factory, Marin, CA
• Client Appreciation Show, Warehouse Gallery, Oakland, CA
• Process and Place, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA

2009

• Wood and Water, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA
• Foursite, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA
• In Focus, North First ArtSpace, San Jose, CA
• Not Your Mothers’ Paper Dolls, Fingado Gallery, El Cerrito, CA.

2008

Rhode Island School of Design Biennial, Oakland, CA
Chosen Terrain, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA

2007

• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Artists Gallery
• ArtScape Gallery, Walnut Creek

2006

• ArtScape Gallery, Walnut Creek

2005

• 22nd Annual Berkeley Art Center National Juried Exhibition (Curators: Karin Breuer and Don Farnsworth)

2004

• Group Show, Don Soker Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2003

• Sweet Tooth, Copia: The American Center for Food, Wine, and the Arts, Napa (catalog)
• Food Matters, Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, New York
• The Big Tree Project, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA.

2001

• Galerie Dukan, Marseille, France
• Steamie Crème with No Theme, 600 Townsend Gallery, San Francisco (curator: René di Rosa)
• Groupe Mémoires, Galerie Dukan, Marseille, France (catalog)
• Fantastic Landscape, Schneider Gallery, Chicago

2000

• International Group Show, Osaka, Japan
• Pacific Rim Sculptors Group Exhibition (curator: Ruth Braunstein), San Francisco
• Yellow: The First Color, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA

1999

• What is Art for? The Oakland Museum of California, Oakland (curator: William Wiley)
• Making Change:100 Artists Interpret the Tzedakah Box, Jewish Museum, S.F. (catalog)
• ProArts Juried Annual, Oakland (curators: Peter Selz & Rachel Osajima)
• Through the Door Revisited: 5th Annual Members’ Show, Pacific Rim Sculptors Group, S.F.

1998

• feed, San Francisco Camerawork, San Francisco
• fem’-i-nie, n… womankind, 621 Gallery, Tallahassee, FL (catalog)
• 14th Annual National Juried Exhibition, Berkeley Art Center, CA (curator: Janet Bishop)
• Pacific Rim Sculptors Group Members’ Exhibition, San Francisco
• Shadows 2000, Coos Art Museum, Coos Bay, OR

1997

• Generations: 25 Years of A.I.R. Gallery, A.I.R. Gallery, New York
• Surveying the First Decade: Video Art and Alternative Media in the United States, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
• Humor, Parody, Irony, & Satire, Contract Design Center, San Francisco
• Pacific Rim Sculptors Group Exhibition, Chapline Gallery, Stinson Beach, CA
• Carving the Forces of Change, Women’s Caucus For Art
• National 25th Anniversary Exhibition, Artemisia Gallery, Chicago, IL (curator: Faith Ringgold)

1996

• 5th Annual Juried Luggage Exhibition: Psychic, Spiritual, Physical and/or Emotional Baggage, 509 Cultural Center/The Luggage Store, San Francisco
• Homages, Center for the Visual Arts, Oakland
• Fantastic Fibers, Yeiser Art Center, Paducah, KY (catalog)

1995

• In Three Dimensions: Women Sculptors of the ’90s, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island, NY (catalog)
• Waste Not, Want Not, Waitakere Arts & Cultural Centre, Titirangi, New Zealand
• Wind and Weather, Contract Design Center, San Francisco, CA
• Envoys, Association of Women Artists Postcard Project 1993-1995, National Library, Wellington, New Zealand
• Pandora’s Box – Hope Capsule 3000, with Kati Casida, Dept. of Anthropology, U.C., Berkeley, CA
• We Are All Connected, Sunrise Fine Arts Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1994

• Pacific Rim Sculptors Group, Syntex Gallery, Palo Alto
• Mirror, Mirror: Gender Roles & the Historical Significance of Beauty, Oliver Art Center, Ca. College of Arts & Crafts, Oakland, CA
• People & Fashion/People & Clothes, Phase 3, Windows on the Waterfront, Oakland

1993

• Crocker-Kingsley Annual, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
• Vessels, The Upper Gallery, Milwaukee, WI

1992

• Her Art Works, Women’s Caucus for Art National Competition, South Bend Art Center, South Bend, IN (curator: Lynda Benglis)
• Artists Equity International Exhibition, Spectrum Gallery, San Francisco
• Abstract Traditions, Claudia Chapline Gallery, Stinson Beach, CA
• Telling Stories, Prieto Gallery, Mills College, Oakland
• 500 Years of Resistance through Women’s Eyes, Galeria Museo/Mission Cultural Center, S.F.

1991

• A.M.D.G., Grace Cathedral, San Francisco (curated by Terrain Gallery)

1990

• Pro Arts Annual Juried Exhibition, Oakland, CA (curator: Jacquelyn Bass)

1989

• American Documentary Video: Subject to Change, Museum of Modern Art, NY; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

1984

• Expo 2000, Wearable Art Exhibition, Marin Civic Center, San Rafael, CA

1983

• The Invention of Hair Spray, Santa Rosa, CA

1982

• One Painter, One Sculptor, Crown Zellerbach Gallery, S.F.

1981

• The Exchange Show, San Francisco/West Berlin, Germany
• The Western Edge, Northern California Women’s Caucus for the Arts Exhibition, S.F

1980

• International Women’s Art Festival, Copenhagen, Denmark
• Women’s Myth and Ritual, Salon Cerridwen, New York City

1979

• Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition, Syntex Gallery, Palo Alto, CA
• Shidoni Outdoor Sculpture Show, Tesuque, New Mexico

1978

• Sculptural Variations, Center for the Visual Arts, Oakland, CA
• The Great Goddess Re-Emerging, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA
• Soap Box Derby, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
• Santa Fe Art Festival, Santa Fe, New Mexico

1977

• Opening Exhibition, Center for the Visual Arts, Oakland, CA
• The Great Goddess, Skylight Studio, Berkeley, CA
• On Color, The Exploratorium, San Francisco
• Flags, Banners and Kites, Allied Arts, Seattle, WA

1976

• San Francisco Art Festival, Civic Center, San Francisco
• Floating Museum, Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco

1975

• Soap Box Derby, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
• Awakening, Oakland Museum, CA
• Introductions, San Francisco Art Institute
• San Francisco Art Festival, Civic Center, San Francisco

1974

• Installation, Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco

1973

• Potrero Hill Artists’ Show, San Francisco

1972

• Alternate Media Conference, Goddard College, Goddard, VT
• Daze of Syracuse, Past, Present and Future, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY

1971

• Sundance Ceremony, Museum of Modern Art, New York

1970

• Vision and Television, Billy Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, MA

1969

• Subject to Change, pilot program for C.B.S. Television, Videofreex, New York

RESIDENCIES:
2008 New Pacific Studio, Masterton, New Zealand
2005 Moulin à Nef, Auvillar, France
2000 Gentoshiya, Shimabara, Japan
1999 Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Sweet Briar, VA
1997 Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Sweet Briar, VA

COLLECTIONS:
Oakland Museum of California
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts