Archive
What Goes Around Comes Around: A Solo Exhibition
March 30th – May 6th, 2017
A continuation of the kinetic series
Full Circle
2016
Eye to Eye
May 22 – June 28, 2014
“In her solo exhibition, Eye to Eye, Mary Curtis Ratcliff has collaborated with her father through the photographs he left behind. A world traveler, Ken Ratcliff made thousands of images on four continents; he painstakingly printed and mounted them into 42 bound albums, which have languished in a Midwestern storage unit since 1990. Rediscovering them decades after his death, Mary Curtis Ratcliff has entered into artistic dialogue with a few images, using processes as diverse as projection, montage, image transfer, drawing and painting to make the works in the current show. In the process, the original black and white source images and the daughter’s understanding of her father and the way he viewed the world have been transformed.”
-Mary Curtis Ratcliff
Mercury 20 Gallery
475 25th Street
Oakland, CA 94612
www.mercurytwenty.com
510-701-4620
Curtis and patrons during the Charismatic Fauna Artist talk.
April 2013 Charismatic Fauna, Mercury 20, Oakland, CA
^Vestage^
A look at an extended period of artistic activity by Berkeley artist Mary Curtis Ratcliff, the work in this exhibition links the feminist spirituality movement of the 1970s, a pilgrimage by the artist to Malta in 2001 to visit the ruins of 6,000-year-old goddess temples, and the contemporary feminine represented in pop culture where visions of feminine beauty are represented as fashion plates in paper doll form. Along the way, Ratcliff plays with elegance and banality, archaic and modern, sober and comic, sacred and profane.
Mary Curtis Ratcliff attended the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island. She has exhibited in twenty solo exhibitions and over 80 group shows. Her work is in more than 80 private collections including the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco – Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts and the Oakland Museum of California.
Divine 1
Divine 2
Divine 3
Divine 4
Divine 5
Divine 6
475 25th St. (at Telegraph)
Oakland, CA 94612
Thursday-Saturday 12-6pm and by appointment
510-701-4620
Opening Reception: Saturday, January 21 from 4-6 pm. Artist’s Talk & Performance at 5pm.
December 17 – January 29th
^Reykjavik Stoplight ^
Berkeley Art Center
1275 Walnut Street
Berkeley, CA
Hours: Wednesday – Sunday 12 – 5pm
Opening Reception: Saturday, December 17, 5pm.
^Mountain and Sea/Keri Keri ^
Mercury 20 is pleased to present “Interlocking Terrain,” a group show of work by gallery artists, curated by artist Charlie Milgrim. This show explores connections and juxtapositions between man-made and natural environments and their relationships to inner geographies.
475 25th St. (at Telegraph)
Oakland, CA 94612
Thursday-Saturday 12-6pm and by appointment
510-701-4620
Opening Reception: December 17, 5pm.
December 2 – January 1st
Mythos Fine Art & Artifacts
1747 Solano Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94707
510-277-2269
Opening Reception: Friday, December 2nd, 5:30 – 9pm.
June 30-July 30, 2011
Stripe
Mercury 20
475 25th St
Oakland, CA
Opening Reception: Friday, July 1st from 6-9pm (in conjunction with Oakland Art Murmur) Tea pouring by Nick and Miles of Rootd Tea
Special Event! Mercury 20 Gallery 5th Anniversary Party: Saturday, July 9 from 6-9pm. Join us for refreshments, music, and an art-filled evening.
Curated by JoAnn Biagini, Kathleen King and Julianne Wallace Sterling
Mercury 20 Gallery is pleased to present its annual summer group show Mercury Rising, an overview of recent painting, sculpture, photography, drawing and mixed media. The works in this show respond to fluctuating temperatures from the everyday poetics of summer heat, to the disturbances of planetary climate disruption, to the powerful dynamics of social and political movements. Mercury Rising charts the terrors and possibilities of change. We are especially pleased to present the work of three artists new to the gallery in 2011, Jody Medich, Paul Mueller and Kerry Vander Meer, as well as the work of our continuing roster of East Bay artists.
April 13th – June 10th, 2011
Wake
The Atrium
600 Townsend
San Francisco, CA
^Over Down Under^
Mythos Fine Art & Artifacts
1747 Solano Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94707
510-277-2269
March 29th – April 30th, 2011
Continental Drift
Bay Model
2100 Bridgeway
Sausalito, CA
^Vienna/Oakland^475 25th St. (at Telegraph)
Oakland, CA 94612
Thursday-Saturday 12-6pm and by appointment
510-701-4620
Collectors Preview: Thursday, March 3rd
6-8pm
Reception: Friday, March 4th
6-9 pm in conjuction with Oakland Art Murmur
Artist Talk: Saturday March 12
^Denuta in Malta^1747 Solano Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94707
Reception: Friday, December 17th 2010
5 – 8:30 pm
^Cherry Apple Palms^Mercury 20
475 25th St. (at Telegraph)
Oakland, CA 94612
Thursday-Saturday 12-6pm and by appointment
510-701-4620
Reception: Friday, December 3rd 2010
6-9 pm in conjunction with Oakland’s Art Murmur
Curtis Ratcliff will not be present during this reception.
Catch up with her during the
Artist Talks: Saturday, December 4th 2010
2pm – 4pm
&
Friday January 7th 2010
6pm – 9pm
^Poplar Grove 12^Reception: Saturday December 11th
5:30pm – 7:30pm
1275 Walnut St.
Berkeley, CA 94709
510-644-6893
Gallery Hours
Wednesday – Sunday
12pm-5pm
^Lumen:: 2010^Mercury 20
475 25th St. (at Telegraph)
Oakland, CA 94612
Thursday-Saturday 12-6pm and by appointment
510-701-4620
Reception Friday, August 6th
6-9 pm in conjunction with Oakland’s Art Murmur
Mary Curtis Ratcliff’s current work emerges from two worlds; photographic vision and her own handwork. The artist begins by taking photographs that combine a feeling of peace with mysterious complexity. Sometimes, she leaves the images untouched, but more often she transforms them with colored pencils, transfer, collage and layering “I am always looking for abstraction, shadow, and reflection,” Ratcliff says, “because those images are the ones on which I can build.”
^Travencore 2 :: 2008^Ratcliff Studios
809 B Hearst Ave.
Berkeley, CA
510-649-7960
June 5th & 6th
11am-5pm
^Travencore 3 :: 2008^Mercury 20
475 25th St. (at Telegraph)
Oakland, CA 94612
510-701-4620
Reception Saturday, May 7th
6-9 pm
^Parting of the Plates :: 2009^Cheese Factory
7500 Red Hill Road
Petaluma, CA
Friday, Saturday, & Sunday, 11 am to 4 pm
Reception Sunday, March 14
2-4 pm with performance by Diana Marto
Journeys is an exciting look at diverse images and media in Bay area art by 36 artists from 21 Cities, Towns, and Villages. The art was selected by curators Claudia Chapline and Etta Deikman, and reflects the physical and spiritual manifestations of life: of humans and other species in interaction with the planet. The movement of the earth and its inhabitants is a dominate theme in this expansive exhibition.
^Mountain & Sea, Kerikeri :: 2008^The Warehouse Gallery
1234 International Blvd.
Oakland CA 94606
Reception Saturday, April 10th
6-10 pm
Music by DJ Briski
^Superior Stones :: 2008^Berkeley Art Center
1275 Walnut Street,
Berkeley 94709
Fridays 4-7pm & Saturdays 12-3pm
Reception Saturday, February 6
5-8pm
Six local visual artists — Amy Berk, Edith Hillinger, Brooke Holve, Anne Lamborn, Mary Curtis Ratcliff, and Elizabeth Sher—attended the same artist residency program in New Zealand, all at different times. In this exhibition, they present work in a variety of media, demonstrating the ways the experience shaped their individual practices, speaking to the nature of retreat, and the transformative potential of artist residencies, which provide a respite for artists to simply witness and create.
^Luxembourg Gardens :: 2009^Mercury 20 Gallery
25 Grand Ave.
Oakland CA 94602
Fridays 4-7pm & Saturdays 12-3pm
Reception Friday, August 7th
6-9 pm
in conjunction with First Friday/Oakland Art Murmur
^Sweep :: 2008^ North First ArtSpace
2665 North First St.
San Jose, CA
Monday – Friday 8pm-6pm
Reception Friday, August 7th
5pm-7pm
^Below the Falls :: 2009^Mercury 20 Gallery
25 Grand Ave.
Oakland CA 94602
Fridays 4-7pm & Saturdays 12-3pm
Reception Friday, July 3rd
6-9 pm
in conjunction with First Friday/Oakland Art Murmur
May
Works on Paper
by Pam Fingado and Mary Curtis Ratcliff
Take Back Your Mink :: 2004
Reception
Friday, May 8, 2009, 7-9 pm
in conjunction with
El Cerrito’s Stockton Avenue Art Stroll
Fingado Art Gallery
7025 Stockton Ave., El Cerrito, CA
Th-Sat 12-5:30 PM
Wed. by appt. 510.593.9081
Upcoming Events:
Pro Arts East Bay Open Studio 2009
Spring Sale
Many works discounted
Sat – Sun, June 6 and 7
11 am to 5 pm
809 B Hearst Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94710
510.649.7960
Directions to studio: Take University Ave. exit off I-80. Make first
Left onto Sixth Street, then turn left on Hearst. #809 is on the right.
Park across from Spenger’s on 4th Street.
April
Spanish Café :: 2001, Digital Inkjet Print
Please join me this Spring in my upcoming solo show:
Hess Gallery
March 30 – April 28, 2009
400 Heath Street, Chestnut Hill, MA, 02467
Artist’s Gallery Talk and Reception
Wednesday, April 1, 11:30 – 1 p.m.
The exhibition will include seven brand new works and one multi-lingual sculpture that was designed to travel to the 2000 exhibition in Osaka, Japan. Other works will include a grouping of small original pieces mounted on wooden panels and digital inkjet prints.
The Hess Gallery is at Pine Manor College, which I attended briefly in the Sixties before going on to the Rhode Island School of Design.
October
Travancore lll :: Chosen Terrain, Mercury 20
Chosen Terrain, my two person show at the Mercury 20 Gallery was a great success. The exhibit was well attended, and I was pleased to see many artist friends and introduce them to my current series: Arborescence.
^Debabellizer :: Chosen Terrain, Mercury 20^ Chosen Terrain, received attention from 2 East Bay publications and was given positive critical notice.
“Ratcliff prints large gray-scale digital photographs of landscape motifs from her travels and draws and paints on them, sometimes also adding collage and transfers, creating complex montages that play with spacial ambiguity: abstraction and depiction go in and out of focus as we visually negotiate these hybrid spaces, equally centripetal and expansive, in which far and near intermingle, suggesting ritual transport and transformation.” DeWitt Cheng, East Bay Express
To coincide with the exhibition, with Peter’s help, I published
Arborescence, a book which details my current series and reproduces the works in full color. Thanks to the magic of computer animation you can page through the first few spreads.
Happy Fall! I hope this finds you well.
September Chosen Terrain
Waterweb, 2008 :: mixed media work on panel (40 × 28 1/2 × 2 in.) /
Mercury 20 is an artist-run gallery in downtown Oakland. Our collective consists of 20 local artists of various disciplines. Each month we host a 2-person show from members in our collective in the front gallery. The rest of our space is dedicated to the work of our other 18 members.
June
During the first weekend of June, Mary Curtis Ratcliff will host an East Bay Pro Arts Open Studio.
When: June 7th and 8th ~ 11am to 5pm
Where: 809B Hearst Avenue, Berkeley, CA
Contact: 510.649.7960
May
Mary Curtis Ratcliff joins Mercury 20, an artist-run gallery in downtown Oakland. This collective consists of twenty local artists of various disciplines. Each month they host a two-person show in their store front. The rest of the space is dedicated to the work the other eighteen members. In addition to regular weekend hours, Mercury 20 is a proud participant in Oakland’s Art Murmur.
Oakland's Art Murmur The First Friday of every month 20 art galleries in downtown Oakland host a reception that is free and open to the public.
March
M.C.R. takes part in a collaborative show with her peers.
R.I.S.D. Northern California Alumni Biennial
“Exploring the full range of artistic expression, the R.I.S.D. Northern California Alumni Biennial honors and celebrates the work of Rhode Island School of Design alumni who are now living and working in Northern California. Juried by René de Guzman, the new senior curator of Painting and Sculpture art at the Oakland Museum of California, the R.I.S.D. Biennial features work by 36 alums representing several generations and styles.” -novoscene
February
Mountian & Sea, Kerikeri 2007
M.C.R returns from a residency at New Pacific Studios in Mt. Bruce, New Zealand. Her focus during the month-long stay included watercolor, printmaking, pen, & ink. A detailed conversation of her residency can be found here