Artists pair up with other artists and let their works be in conversation in sync or intertwined.
sound / sculpture / performance / photography / painting / ceramics / works on paper / installation
Julie Alvarado with Matt Dostal / Jo Ann Biagini with Meadow Presley / Eric Bohr with Amy Sass / Nick Dong with Ben McCrea / Terryl Dunn with Dana Smith / PK Frizzell with Maria Porges / Kathleen King with Masako Miyazaki / Leah Markos with unknown graffit artists / Jill McLennan with Kaya Fortune / Charlie Milgrim with Tim West / Jann Nunn with Lynne Todaro / Mary Curtis Ratcliff with Christel Dillbohner / Joanna Salska with Michael Snyder / Julianne Wallace Sterling with Barbara Butkus / Kerry Vander Meer with Larnie Fox and The Crank Ensemble / Joan Weiss with Therese Brown
Mercury 20 Gallery proudly presents “Transformation of Connectivity: Conversation Confluence Collaboration.” The exhibition is on view from January 16 through February 22 2014. The public is cordially invited to the artists’ reception on Saturday January 25 4-6pm.
For this year’s annual group show each gallery artist invited a guest to participate. Artists not only chose other artists and photographers but also writers musicians fabricators and choreographers with whom they would make art in collaboration or association.
The result is a dynamic visual display representing the conceptual psychological and material connections forged between the artist teams ranging from portraiture to performance.
Artist Eric Bohr and playwright/director/visual artist Amy Sass are showing “Everything Is Permanent” an installation consisting of two suspended chairs facing each other as if in dialogue and two altered chairs emerging and receding within the scene. A powerful symbol alone two chairs together create the beginnings of story ﾖ while being enmeshed in the larger context of precarious change.
Sculptor Leah Markos is collaborating with unknown Oakland graffiti artists creating an installation suggestive of a primitive sort of survivalist dwelling with intimate objects decorated by digitally collaged graffiti.
The earth global climate change and scarcity of water are the subject of the visual conversation between Mary Curtis Ratcliff and Christel Dillbohner. Using photo-based works as a mediation to address these urgent issues yet in spite of all the problems communicate a certain lightness of being.
Although artist Julianne Wallace Sterling and photographer and dancer Barbara Butkus share the same time & space when capturing the salsa dancers portrayed in their works they converse on the page in distinct voices. Sterling’s life-sized pencil drawing places the viewer in physical kinship to the subjects where detail & white space are easily accessed. The smaller low-light photography of Butkus asks the viewer to draw nearer to discover sensuous color lurking in the blackness. The pieces however share a linkage of line & length as well as the connection found in a moment of movement between two subjects more concerned with each other than with the outside gaze.
Kathleen King‘s constructed wood sculptures and Masako Miyazaki‘s large-scale charcoal on altered paper perfectly harmonize in conversation.
Jo Ann Biagini and Meadow Presley are co workers at Creative Growth Art Center and have created art side by side on many occasions. For this collaboration both artists are exploring themes of childhood memories and nostalgia in drawing and ceramics.
Sculptors Jann Nunn and Lynne Todaro who met while studying at SFAI 20 years ago are exhibiting a co-created sculptural installation. Each is using found wood- crutches and tree branches- to bring new life and meaning to their work.
Special guests the inimitable Bay Area’s Crank Ensemble will perform two 20-minute sets during Art Murmur on February 7 at 7:00 and 8:30 PM using hand-cranked instruments made by Larnie Fox. When not in use they will be displayed along with Kerry Vander Meer‘s constructed electronically wired sculpture. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear and see Crank Ensemble!
Exhibition Event Schedule:
*Jan 16 – Third Thursday ARTWALK (6:00-8:00 pm)
*Jan 18 – Third Saturday Gallery District Walking Tour (2:00 pm) Led by Dasha Matsuura. Meet at 411 26th Street. Theme: Installation Art
*Jan 25 – Artists’ Reception (4:00-6:00pm)
*Feb 7 – Oakland Art Murmur (6:00-9:00 pm) with Crank Ensemble performances at 7:00 and 8:30pm
*Feb 20 – Third Thursday ARTWALK (6:00-8:00pm)
Exhibiting artist teams/media:
- Julie Alvarado and Matt Dostal(Collaboration – Sculptural Installation)
- Jo Ann Biagini and Meadow Presley(Conversation – Drawing and Ceramic)
- Eric Bohr and Amy Sass (Collaboration- Installation)
- Nick Dong and Ben McCrea(Collaboration –
- Terryl Dunn and Dana Smith(Conversation – Portraits)
- PK Frizzell and Maria Porges
- Kathleen King and Masako Miyazaki (Conversation- Sculpture and Works on Paper)
- Leah Markos and anonymous (Collaboration – Sculpture)
- Jill McLennan and Kaya Fortune (Collaboration – Installation)
- Charlie Milgrim and Tim West (Collaboration – Works on Paper)
- Jann Nunn and Lynne Todaro (Confluence – Sculptural Installation)
- Curtis Ratcliff and Christel Dillbohner (Collaboration- Photography)
- Joanna Salska and Michael Snyder (Conversation – Painting and Photography)
- Julianne Wallace Sterling and Barbara Butkus (Confluence – Drawing and Photography)
- Kerry Vander Meer and Larnie Fox and The Crank Ensemble* (Collaboration – Sculpture and Performance)
- Joan Weiss and Therese Brown (Conversation – Painting and Photography)
*At last count The Crank Ensemble included
- Bodil Fox
- Lena Strayhorn
- Chris Miller
- Keith Nomura
- Patricia Ravara
- Eugene Chen
- Matt Davignon
- Mark Brest van Kempen
- Aaron Ximm
- Bronwyn Ximm Kevin Mathieu
- Vicki Olds
- Molli Simon
- Mary Behm-Steinberg
- Hugh Behm-Steinberg.