Exhibition dates: Dec. 2 2010 – Jan. 29 2011
Two Opening Receptions (in conjunction with Oakland Art Murmur):
Friday December 3 6-9pm
Friday January 7 6-9pm
Artists’ Talk: Saturday December 4 2pm
image: Chela Fielding
SOLO SHOW
Chela Fielding: La Fe
Artist Chela Fielding creates installation and sculpture exploring a range of materials from wood and metal to rubber and cloth along with found objects like shoes paint drawers old letters and photographs. In one of Fieldingﾒs latest sculptures two thick wires are threaded with a prized collection of found objects which she has collected for a number of years. Beaded like an oversized necklace is a paint brush a plastic horse an old band-aid tin a wooden cow and painted wooden numbers among other items. The juxtapositions are as unique as the objects themselves and the work displays the colors and patinas of the past.
Fielding also presents two energetic larger than life canvases covered in layers of pencil pen oil pastel and paint. Through the layers text is written and erased and written again; images emerge: an arm a balloon an outline of a bear. You can almost derive some kind of meaning grasp a story but then it disappears and you are left with a mystery beyond reach. The artist has also been experimenting with new media and developing her unique brand of humor. In this show she unveils six new photographs of herself in Photoshop-bright colors.
Chela Fielding graduated with a BFA in Painting and a minor in Film from Humboldt State University. After her undergraduate work she joined the Peace Corps for two years working on Hillside Farming in an isolated village in the hills of Ocotopeque Honduras. Returning to Oakland she worked as an after-school art teacher for five years. She went on to receive her MFA in Sculpture from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Currently she is a Site-Coordinator for a board and care resident facility for adults with mental disabilities in Marin County.
************************************************************************************************************************
image: Margaret Chavigny Mary V. Marsh Dave Meeker
GROUP SHOW
Mercury Multiples: Artist’s Editions
Mercury 20 Gallery is proud to present a selection of limited edition Artist’s Multiples created by current gallery members. These works provide affordable acquisitions for collectors as well as adventurous alternatives for holiday gift-givers. From Marcel Duchamp’s Ready-mades to Conceptual non-objects to the boxes books and strategies of Fluxus to Correspondence Art (distributed by mail outside the gallery system) Artist’s Multiples have an outsider history with an insider cachet.
Continuing this history some of the exhibiting artists present work that is outside their usual materials and contexts. Charlie Milgrim bakes up some whimsical Duchamp Cookies while painter Margaret Chavigny explores the repeated image in her drawing series Half Empty/Half Full. Taking a break from painting and sculpture P.K. Frizzell and Kathleen King show new photographs of paint cans/lids and wooden houses respectively. Painter Jill McLennan presents hand-pulled prints based on her photos and Mary Curtis Ratcliff shows photographs taken in India and Cambodia.
Also showing photographs though in a smaller size than his signature work is Peter Honig. Dave Meeker’s Monopoly Homes are sculpted from pennies and Julie Alvarado’s set of small drawings called Trailer Life is influenced by vintage magazine photos. Maya Kabat shows drawings from her MYBH Series while Julianne Sterling is Waiting for Snow White in small oil on panel paintings. Jamie Morgan and Mary V. Marsh show prints along with Marshﾒs handmade artistﾒs book The Coffee Diary. Laura van Duren offers a selection of her cast resin Birds. Mixed media work by Jo Ann Biagini and quilted squares by Chela Fielding round out the show.