Finding herself mesmerized by the spray painted esoteric scribblings that utility workers use to communicate with each other on the sidewalks and streets, CHARLIE MILGRIM imagines their seemingly universal language as a “street code” so esoteric, only those in their gang can decipher it. While the messages have a limited palate; fluorescent pink and yellow, she has taken this as an invitation to expand these symbols, investigating their potential as alien communiques.
CHARLIE MILGRIM is a multimedia artist from New York City who moved to the Bay Area in her 20s to attend California College of the Arts, and later received her MFA from U.C. Berkeley. She has since participated in the Bay Area arts community through exhibition and curation and has been a member of the Mercury 20 Gallery for the past 9 years. Milgrim’s work examines the ties and lies between history, science and culture, whether considering environmental degradation, cultural detritus, or the relationship between money and militarism. She works with a wide range of materials, from photography to tar paper made three dimensional, to precariously arranged found objects.
