ﾷ Exhibition dates: May 5-28 2011
ﾷ Opening Reception: Friday May 6 from 6-9pm (in conjunction with Oakland Art Murmur)
ﾷ Artists’ Talk on Saturday May 14 at 2pm.
ﾷ Mark your calendar for Murmurama: Saturday May 21 from 7-10pm… a multi-venue celebration in conjunction with the SF Art Fairs. Galleries within walking distance in downtown Oakland will present a special evening of art artist talks live music wine tasting performances and more! Mercury 20 will be open for a viewing of our May shows and will present music refreshments and informal artists’ talks.
SOLO SHOW
Charlie Milgrim: On the Precipice
Image: "Edge" 2011 chalk pastel on paper 3′ x 5′
Charlie Milgrim’s work in sculpture installation and drawing embodies the interplay of art science and fate. Using materials that would otherwise become landfill Milgrim re-contextualizes them to function as conceptual reminders of delicately balanced or potentially destructive forces both natural and political. In her latest solo show On the Precipice Milgrim takes on the weight of the very precariously balanced world. The artist will present large drawings and a site specific installation.
Charlie Milgrim was born in New York City. She received a BFA from California College of the Arts and an MFA from UC Berkeley. She has exhibited her work at the Oakland Museum the Haines Gallery in San Francisco Works Gallery in San Jose and has work in many private collections including the Di Rosa Collection in Napa CA. Her studio is in Berkeley next to the railroad tracks.
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COLLABORATIVE INSTALLATION
Kathleen King Dave Meeker Laura van Duren: The Gyre
Image: "Caution Fish" by Dave Meeker 2011 photo by Laura van Duren
The Gyre is a room-sized kinetic sculpture created by artists Kathleen King Dave Meeker and Laura van Duren. Composed of discarded plastic which has been re-fashioned into sea creatures and ocean forms the piece focuses attention on the environmental crisis in our planet’s oceans. The spinning glittering installation reflects our collective trance regarding the fact that a large portion of the plastic bottles packaging utensils electronics toys and gadgets we dispose of daily are lost in the environment where they ultimately wash out to sea.
King Meeker and van Duren have all worked with recycled and found materials–including plastics–in their solo work. Looking for a project they could collaborate on they became fascinated with the large systems of ocean currents that coupled with wind and the earth’s rotation create "gyres" massive slow rotating whirlpools in which plastic trash is accumulating. The artists spent months this winter and spring collecting plastic trash from beaches neighborhoods and streets and transforming it into The Gyre an installation that challenges viewers to think about our environment and examine our values in terms of consumption and waste.
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GROUP SHOW
Multiples + Small Works
Image: Mary V. Marsh "Pink Section : Sports Reader" block print on newspaper 21" x 11" 2010
Mercury 20 Gallery is proud to present a selection of limited edition artists multiples and small work in series created by current gallery members. Collectors will find photographs prints artists books drawings and mixed media works at very affordable prices. Among the artists showing will be: Mary V. Marsh Margaret Chavigny P.K. Frizzell Julie Alvarado Jill McLennan Mary Curtis Ratcliff Jody Medich Julianne Sterling and Paul Mueller.