Mercury 20 Gallery
25 Grand Ave. (at Broadway)  
Oakland, CA 94612

Margaret Chavigny
Laura van Duren 
Confluence

Exhibition dates: April 3–April 25, 2009

Opening Reception: Friday, April 3 from 6–9pm (in conjunction with Oakland Art Murmur)
Meet the artists for wine/hors d'oeuvres/discussion: Saturday, April 4 from 12–4pm

Margaret Chavigny, Blossom, painting,  20"x20", 2009

Margaret Chavigny is a mixed media painter who works with collage, acrylics, beeswax, oils and alkyd on panels. Attentive to shifting boundaries between order and chaos, intention and chance, knowing and not knowing, the artist creates complex surfaces with multi-layered patterns. Interconnections – nerves, pathways, growth and fragility – are part of her primary vocabulary. In her latest body of work, Chavigny uses organic forms and hot color contrapuntally, discovering symmetries, depth of shadows and reflection. Chavigny's work undulates with vibrant pinks and reds that evoke sensations of the body inside.

Laura van Duren, Sugar Ladder, sculpture, 2009 

Sculptor Laura van Duren has created ladders made of sugar, bronze and wood and intertwined them with large ceramic pods and trees that seem to have a life of their own. Van Duren continues to explore the metaphorical imagery of trees and ladders to address themes of change, regeneration and the sacredness of nature. The figure is ever present in her work. Cast iron branches become legs that support a ceramic pod-like body holding a transparent ladder made of sugar. Permanence and fragility exist side by side in this unique interplay of materials.

In the Backspace:  A group exhibition featuring current painting, photography, sculpture and mixed media from gallery artists.

Mercury 20 is an artist-established and operated gallery located in Oakland, CA. A collective comprised of 20 members, Mercury 20 exhibits high quality, innovative work from emerging and mid-career artists, and promotes art in the community. Gallery hours are Friday 4-7pm and Saturday, 12-3pm, and by appointment. 

www.mercurytwenty.com

For additional information please contact mercurytwenty@gmail.com or call Kathleen at 510.701.4620