Gestural Expressions
2026-07-17 - 2026-08-29 | Slate Contemporary Gallery, 5510 College Ave, Oakland, 94618, United States
SLATE Contemporary Gallery presents “Gestural Expressions”, an exhibition which brings together five accomplished women artists working in gestural abstraction: Maria Burtis, Amy Donaldson, Nicole Mueller, Karen Silve, and Joanne Fox. This exhibition not only revisits the legacy of Abstract Expressionism, but also reimagines its future through the work of five artists whose voices continue to broaden and enrich the field.
Opening Reception: Saturday, August 8, 4–6pm⁠
Join us with three of the exhibiting artists for an evening celebrating the show, featuring specialty drinks from Rue de Rêve (@ruedereveaperitifs), a local women-owned apéritif producer.⁠
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Artist Walkthrough: Saturday, July 25, 4–5pm⁠
Explore the exhibition with artist Nicole Mueller for an intimate look into her process and perspective.⁠
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Gestural Expressions is on view at SLATE from July 15–August 29, 2026.⁠

Andrew Catanese Solo Exhibition | I Watched Your Leaves Grow Silver in the Wind
2026-08-06 12:00 - 2026-09-27 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Johansson Projects, 2300 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Johansson Projects presents I Watched Your Leaves Grow Silver in the Wind, an exhibition featuring paintings by Andrew Catanese. The exhibition explores ecologies of recollection, as Catanese channels connections among places and individuals, particularly those who linger only in memory.
For Catanese, painting is a narrative medium that moves across time and space, reshaping how we see the everyday world. Their canvases feature landscapes, shifting weather, animals, and spectral figures, each serving as a portal to distinct moments and memories the artist calls “slips” in time and place. Painting becomes a bridge to people and environs that have been lost, abandoned, or rediscovered. Gazes, where they appear, are slant, unfocused. Animals sulk through forests, searching, unaware that they are being watched. Full figures, with backs turned, are ensconced in brambles, alienating them from the viewer. Imbued with distance and uncertainty, Catanese’s lush compositions swim in windswept, haunting ambiguity.
A mysterious and quiet spirituality permeates the work, suggesting something just beyond reach. Catanese’s expressive use of color deepens the atmosphere, intensifying the sense of connection and longing throughout the exhibition. Amid today’s uncertainty and division, Catanese’s paintings remind us of our deep-rooted desire for kinship. These poetic works encourage reflection and uncover the bonds that persist, even in the most turbulent times.
I Watched Your Leaves Grow Silver in the Wind will run from August 6 to September 27, 2026.

Ultrahive4
2026-08-08 17:00 - 2026-09-27 17:00 | FM Gallery, 483 25th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
For August and September we are excited to feature UltraHive 4; a traveling art show with over 100 artists making original cd cover art! This vibrant and eclectic exhibition showcases artists from around the globe, each contributing unique works that explore the CD cover as both canvas and concept. From reimagined album art to sculptural pieces crafted from actual CD cases, the show celebrates the cultural legacy of physical media while pushing the boundaries of contemporary art. By transforming these once-ubiquitous objects into personal and provocative expressions, the artists revive nostalgia, challenge format, and reframe the way we view music, memory, and material. Together, their works create a dynamic visual mixtape that pays homage to the golden age of the compact disc—remixed for a new era.
UltraHive 4 has recently shown at the Hive Gallery in Los Angeles. After showing here at FM Oakland, it will then travel to Japan for display at the Tokyo Designfesta Gallery. Enjoy while it’s here with us today!
“Ultrahive4”
August 7th – September 26th, 2026
Art Murmur Receptions:
Friday, August 7th, 5-10pm
Friday, September 4th, 5-10pm

Earthseed Remnants Gallery Exhibition
2026-08-14 16:00 - 21:00 | ARTogether Center, 1200 Harrison Street, Oakland, 94612, United States
Earthseed Remnants
Curated by: Jy Jimmie Gabiola & Lynse Cooper
Opening Reception: Friday, August 14, 2026, 4PM–9PM
Exhibition Dates: August 10 – September 18, 2026
Venue: ARTogether, 1200 Harrison St, Oakland, CA 94612
Artists: Cole Lata, Jasmine Narkita Wiley, Jenn Ban, Nele Ponce, Zoe Miles
Description:
Earthseed Remnants is a group art exhibition on endurance, presence, and shaping the future from trace and memory. Curated by Jy Jimmie Gabiola and Lynse Cooper, the show brings together five artists whose practices excavate what persists — in land, in body, in archive, in imagination. Across photography, alternative process, sculpture, and installation, Earthseed Remnants asks: what do we carry forward, and what do we allow to transform?

Artist's Reception - Donald (Aldo) Farnsworth: Hands of the Maker, A Show of Hands
2026-08-15 14:00 - 17:00 | Transmission Gallery, 770 West Grand Ave., Suite A, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Please join us for the Artists’Reception for concurrent solo exhibitions at Transmission Gallery, Saturday, August 15th, 2-5 pm including Hands of the Maker, A Show of Hands presenting drawings by Aldo Farnsworth. Greet the artists and enjoy the lively conversations and light refreshments while you check out the work in concurrent solo shows at Transmission Gallery.
Also, mark your calendar for the Artist’s Talk starting at 2 pm on Saturday, September 12th, when Aldo will discuss his explorations in paper making and portraiture, with a focus on this series of hands.
See the work through September 19th with regular gallery hours: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 12-5 pm.

Artist's Reception - Daniel McClain: Lost and Found
2026-08-15 14:00 - 17:00 | Transmission Gallery, 770 West Grand Ave., Suite A, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
All are welcome to join us for the Artist’s Reception for Daniel McClain: Lost and Found.
​Saturday, August 15th, from 2-5 pm
Stop in any time between 2 and 5pm to greet the artist, enjoy the light refreshments and conversations while checking out the art. Don’t miss concurrent exhibition Donald (Aldo) Farnsworth: Hands of the Maker, A Show of Hands, also on view with the artist in attendance.
Transmission Gallery is pleased to present Lost and Found, a solo exhibition comprised of recent paintings and framed drawings by Daniel McClain on view through September 12th.
The exquisite technical process at play in McClain’s paintings is elusive at first. With their striking imagery, bold planes and graphic color, they initially suggest collages assembled from found images, fragments, and printed material. Only after spending time with them does it become clear that every element has been re-created by hand. What appears to be a collage is, in fact, a meticulous replication of one. A strip of masking tape turns out to be paint. A penciled note is drawn in graphite. A battered corner is painted. Printed text is hand-drawn graphite as well.
At this point the scope of the work begins to become apparent. Every element has been carefully considered. Creases, worn edges, and the faint shadows separating one sheet of paper from another receive the same attention as an ocean, an illustration, or a section of chalkboard. By granting each part equal attention, McClain transforms copies into objects with their own independent presence.
This transformation is ultimately the point. Replication is not the subject of these paintings but their method, bringing images from different histories, disciplines, and moments into direct conversation. Each element alters the meaning of the others, creating relationships that could not exist without this painstaking act of reconstruction.
​An example is the recurring figure of Pinocchio. More than a literary reference, Pinocchio becomes real not by perfectly imitating a human being, but by accumulating experience, making mistakes, and developing judgment. In this sense, he serves as a metaphor for the paintings themselves. They begin as copies, but they do not remain copies. Through the process of their making and the experience of looking, they become something else.
Familiarity with art history, literature, and broader questions of reality and mystery enriches the experience, revealing subtle connections within each painting. Yet no specialized knowledge is required; simply following the rhythms of color, shape, and line offers rewards of its own.
Four framed graphite drawings on found paper accompany the paintings referencing the work of artists Marcel du Champ, Werner Herzog, and William de Kooning as well as Patti Smith. Beautifully executed, they extend the exhibition’s exploration of perception, felt experience and the transformation of familiar objects.

Opening Reception – Rainey Straus: re(COMPOSING)
2026-08-15 14:30 - 17:00 | Mercury 20 Gallery, 475 25th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Rainey Straus, re(Composing), fragment, 2026, Cast Paper, 13 H x 35 W x 26 D in, Photo Courtesy of the Artist
Rainey Straus’s work begins with walking, listening, and close attention to the living world. Created for Mercury 20, re(Composing) turns that attention toward fungi, following the ways matter breaks down, gathers, and becomes something else. The installation takes decomposers as a starting point: organisms that are also composers, transforming one kind of matter into another. Straus’s materials follow this logic. Paper is shredded, pulped, and cast over found, downed wood, echoing the way paper wasps chew wood fiber into shelter. Lacing through these casts are bioplastic forms, spun like spider silk until gesture becomes structure. By working with already fallen wood, Straus treats the tree not as an ending but as part of an ongoing cycle of transformation. The work invites attention to other intelligences: the pathfinding of slime molds, mycelial networks, and forms of sensing beyond human perception. Rather than representing ecological change, re(Composing) takes part in it: paper returns to pulp, pulp takes the impression of wood, and matter reorganizes itself into temporary form: fragile, provisional, and alive to what comes next.
Bio:
Rainey Straus is the award winner from Mercury 20’s 2026 exhibition, Mapping Time, awarded by juror Minoosh Zomorodinia. Straus is a Bay Area interdisciplinary artist whose work grows from fieldwork into sculpture, installation, painting, and cyanotype. After working as a Bay Area tech designer, she returned to artmaking in response to ecological urgency. Solo exhibitions include Spinning Time into Form, Gallery Route One, Point Reyes Station, CA and The Old Growth Project at MarinMOCA. Her work has appeared in Bodies and Borders: Ecologies of Consent with Women Eco Artists Dialog, Forest Unseen at Petaluma Arts Center, The New Geologic Epoch with Ecoartspace, and exhibitions at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, and the San Jose Museum of Art. Straus has held residencies at BigCi Residence in Australia, Lucid Art Foundation, and Morris Graves Foundation. Her work has been featured in Dark Mountain Journal, Sculpture Magazine, Rhizome, San Francisco Chronicle, and Point Reyes National Seashore Association. She holds a BFA from State University of New York (SUNY) Purchase and an MFA from California College of the Arts.
Gallery Hours: Friday and Saturday, 12 – 5 pm (and by appointment)﻿
Artist Talk: Saturday, August 29, 3 – 5 pm
﻿Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday: Friday, August 7, September 4, 5 – 9 pm

Opening Reception – Jessica Cadkin & Michael Lynch: The End
2026-08-15 15:00 - 17:00 | Mercury 20 Gallery, 475 25th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Image: Michael Lynch, A Short Story of an Owl and the Rabbit, 2026, Gouache on Wood Panel, 12” x 15”
Jessica Cadkin & Michael Lynch: The End
A few days after her uncle’s death, Jessica Cadkin was out walking when she noticed a crow cawing at her. It followed her for several blocks, seeming to want her attention. Only when she stopped and looked up at it did the crow alight on a nearby light post. They quietly stared at one another for a few minutes before it flew away. Crows appear prominently in mythology across cultures. In Native American traditions they are not only tricksters and wise guys, but protectors. In some Asian myths they represent the divine; while in Norse lore, Huginn (thought) and Muninn (memory) serve as the eyes and ears of the god Odin. In Hindu belief, crows act as messengers of the dead, bridging the living and the spiritual worlds. Drawing on these associations as well as her own personal encounter with a crow shortly after a family member’s death, Cadkin’s sculpture, Eulogy, reflects on memory, loss, and connection.
Michael Lynch’s work often arises from his keen interest in art, natural science, and physics. The paintings of birds striking windows, The Final Act 1, 2, and 3, are based on photographs of the keratin and oil from powder down feathers transferred onto the glass at the moment of impact. They represent just three of the more than one billion fatal bird-window collisions in the United States each year. The Short Story of the Owl and the Rabbit is a reconstruction of a memory from a scene Lynch encountered over 50 years ago, one he always wished he had a way to record. Lynch often seeks to bring to life the stories and events in nature that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Bios:
Jessica Cadkin was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and grew up in Napa, California. She received a BA in Sculpture and Painting from San Francisco State University. Her work has appeared in group shows internationally and throughout Northern California including the de Young Museum, Headlands Center for the Arts, Southern Exposure, di Rosa Preserve, Bateman Foundation Gallery of Nature, Bedford Gallery, Root Division, and the Berkeley Art Center. Cadkin joined Mercury Twenty Gallery in 2020, this is her fifth show with the gallery.
Michael Lynch is a self-described artistic engineer. Over the course of the last 55 years, he has had several distinct careers. He began as a cabinet and furniture maker, followed by 30 years in the film special effects industry, most of which were in the Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) model shop. During this period, he earned more than 30 film credits and worked on countless commercials. Lynch then shifted his focus for a decade, contracting with the U.S. Department of Defense to design and fabricate prototype parachute systems and combat trauma trainers for the military and NATO. Retired since 2023, Lynch now spends his workweek in the studio in Sausalito, CA. Much of the work he produces lies at the intersection of art, natural history, and physics. His work often tells a story or records events that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Gallery Hours: Friday and Saturday, 12 – 5 pm (and by appointment)﻿
Artist Talk: Saturday, August 29, 3 – 5 pm
﻿Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday: Friday, August 7, September 4, 5 – 9 pm

Opening Reception – Cade Salamanca: The Final Push
2026-08-15 15:00 - 17:00 | Mercury 20 Gallery, 475 25th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Image: Cade Salamanca, The Clock is Ticking, 2026, Mixed media on canvas, 24” x 36”
The Final Push marks a pivotal chapter in Cade Salamanca’s artistic and personal journey. In 2026, Salamanca embraced a new name—an act of self-definition that became a powerful affirmation of identity and a catalyst for creative transformation. Freed from expectations that once constrained her, her work has entered a period of greater clarity, confidence, and emotional depth.
This body of work explores the liberation that emerges when authenticity is fully embraced. The introduction of wire mesh and draped chains began as formal material investigations but evolved into potent metaphors for the protective barriers Salamanca had constructed around herself over time. Fragmented mesh and suspended chains symbolize the dismantling of fear, self-doubt, and inherited expectations, revealing a renewed sense of freedom and possibility. Alongside 12 paintings, Salamanca will debut six double exposure self portraits that mark the beginning of a new practice with Film Photography on a Canon AE-1 Program. Both deeply personal and universally resonant, The Final Push is a celebration of self-acceptance, courage, and transformation—a declaration of identity expressed without apology and an invitation to witness the power of becoming fully seen.
Bio:
The Final Push marks Cade Salamanca’s second solo exhibition with Mercury 20 Gallery. Throughout her artistic journey, Salamanca has explored diverse mediums including ceramics and photography. After experimenting with different painting styles, she developed a distinctive voice that combines techniques she has honed over the years—from smooth color transitions to rich textured layers.Salamanca’s work has been shown at the Blue Mountain Gallery in New York City; Made In California 2024, Brea Gallery, in La Brea, CA; Reflections of Us (Juror Sergio Gomez), Warnes Contemporary, in Brooklyn, NY; Metal Haus Gallery, in San Francisco, CA; and others.
Gallery Hours: Friday and Saturday, 12 – 5 pm (and by appointment)﻿
Artist Talk: Saturday, August 29, 3 – 5 pm
﻿Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday: Friday, August 7, September 4, 5 – 9 pm

Opening Reception – Monika Mayer: LINKED
2026-08-15 15:00 - 17:00 | Mercury 20 Gallery, 475 25th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Image: Monika Mayer_Flow # 60 – Entangled, 2025 (detail), Acrylic, coffee and ink on canvas, 22” x 28”, Photo: Dana Davis
Monika Mayer’s new body of work is inspired by the rocky shoreline along the California coast, shaped by the tides. At low tide, hidden worlds are revealed: clusters of mussels and barnacles clinging together, surviving by holding on to each other. By gathering together, they create shared conditions that protect them from crashing waves and harsh weather. Their strength comes from connection.
Working with gathered and repurposed materials including inner tubes and deconstructed soccer balls, Mayer builds sculptural forms through layering and accumulation. Discarded and overlooked, these pieces grow into organism-like clusters linked with zip ties and staples and are given new life. Her paintings extend this language through layered coffee, paint, and ink, echoing the coastal environment’s organic patterns and rhythms. By presenting familiar objects in unfamiliar ways, Mayer invites viewers into a space of ambiguity, encouraging them to pause, look closely, and consider what lies beneath the surface. These works reflect on resilience, not as something we achieve alone, but as something we build together.
Bio:
Monika Mayer is a multidisciplinary artist born in Germany and based in Berkeley, CA. Largely self-taught, she began developing a daily art practice during the COVID-19 lockdown, allowing her to deepen her focus and commitment. She holds a BA in Social Education from the University of Applied Sciences in Cologne, Germany and a MA in Educational Leadership from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA. Mayer has been a member of Mercury 20 Gallery since 2023, and is an alumna of the Kala Artist-in-Residency program in Berkeley, CA. Her work is held in private collections in the U.S. and Germany and has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at Tryst International Art Fair in Los Angeles, Kala Art Gallery, and in the UK as a shortlisted artist for the International Football Art Prize.
Gallery Hours: Friday and Saturday, 12 – 5 pm (and by appointment)﻿
Artist Talk: Saturday, August 29, 3 – 5 pm
﻿Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday: Friday, August 7, September 4, 5 – 9 pm

GearBox Gallery Presents, MOMENTUM
2026-08-20 12:00 - 2026-09-19 17:00 | Gearbox Gallery, 770 West Grand Avenue, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
GearBox Gallery presents MOMENTUM, August 20 – September 19, 2026. Momentum captures a moment in the evolving landscape of the Northern California Art Scene with 39 artists selected for this unique snapshot of the broader artistic community. Momentum presents diverse artistic perspectives, genres and media chosen by our 2026 guest juror, Demetri Broxton.
Artists selected: Amy Ahlstrom, Allison Allessio, Gale Antokal, Irman Arcibal, Joy Broom, Connie Cagampang Heller, Kimberley Campisano, Anthony Chavez, Diane Che, Vibrata Chromodoris, Deborah Corsini, Laurence Elias, Jeff Ellis, April Ford, Erik Friedman, Gina Gaiser, Patrice Gelband, Rachel Gelenius, Stanley Goldstein, Kitty Gordon, Jaya Griscom, Rachel Katz, Brett Kaufman, Jeff Key, Kathleen King, Elisabeth Koss, Georgianna Krieger, Charlie Levin, Patricia Ludovici, Monika Mayer, Sarah Merola, Tim Metallo, Mary Mocas, Mokhtar Paki, Jeff Palmer, Taylor Stoneman, Matthew Felix Sun, Jonathan Wieder, Jun Yan
Opening Reception
Saturday, August 22nd, 1-4 pm
Demetri Broxton Juror’s Talk
Saturday, September 19th at 2 pm
GearBox Gallery
770 West Grand Ave
Oakland, CA 94612
Thursdays – Saturdays 12 – 5pm

Artist Reception: Jeanne Lorenz – Are you with me NOW?
2026-08-22 14:00 - 16:00 | Manna Gallery, 473 25th St., Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Join Manna Gallery for the opening reception of Are you with me NOW? on Saturday, August 22, from 2–4 pm. Meet artist Jeanne Lorenz and celebrate the opening of her newest body of work in an informal afternoon gathering. Free and open to the public.
August 15 – September 19, 2026
Artist’s reception: Saturday, August 22, 2-4 pm
Oakland Art Murmur First Friday: September 4, 5-8 pm
Artist talk/Closing reception: Saturday, September 19, 3-5 pm
Gallery Hours: Saturdays, 12-5 pm & First Fridays, 5-8 pm
