Exhibition dates: March 6 – March 28, 2009 

Opening Reception: Friday, March 6 from 6-9pm (in conjunction with Oakland Art Murmur)
Afternoon After: Saturday, March 7 from 12-4pm (in conjunction with Oakland Art Murmur)
 
 
East Bay artist Charlie Milgrim sees the future through a lens of the shaken up past, beyond the precipice of the present. Milgrim's work in sculpture, installation and drawing embodies the interplay of art, science, and fate, as she works with materials that harness gravity as an active element. Using materials that would otherwise become landfill, such as discarded bowling balls, the artist re-contextualizes them to function as conceptual reminders of delicately balanced or potentially destructive forces both natural and political.

Charlie Milgrim, "Two Histories" bowling balls and scale, 2008

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, Gallery 16 in San Francisco, OK Harris in New York City, 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.
 
The mixed media paintings of Eric Bohr probe the lasting effects of history and the artist's search for meaning under a close and often blank grey sky. Growing up in a family of recently urbanized farmers, the bleak horizons and nearly monochromatic palette of the Michigan landscape inspire Bohr's memories and imagination. Bohr's work chronicles the loss of open, working farmland as well as the subsequent closing of automobile factories that drew many from the farm to the cities, and the migration and dispersion of families as social and economic systems collapse and regenerate.

Eric Bohr, "nutmeat tonnage" acrylic, burlap sack, ink and bridle (inset) on canvas, 72" h x 60"w, 2008

Eric Bohr was born and raised in Lansing, Michigan and apprenticed with Michael Jacobs in Venice, California. He has shown in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York City. He currently lives and works in Emeryville.
 
Both artists will present video installations relating to their work.
 
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.