SENSING PLACE

Colorful artwork of a white house with a green roof, set against a bright blue sky and surrounded by green foliage and a yellow ground.
Painting of a white house with a green roof and porch
Painting of a house with white siding and a red roof, featuring two white Adirondack chairs on the lawn and additional buildings in the background. The artwork is signed and dated in the bottom corner.
Painting of a seaside house with yellow trim and two striped lawn chairs in the foreground.

August 29 - October 4, 2025

Mercury 20
Back Gallery
475 25th Street, Oakland CA

See my work, alongside that of fellow artists Elizabeth Sher and Emily Shepard, as we each trace the contours of place — not just where we live, but how we feel, remember, and imagine it.

Abstract painting of a red barn and a smaller white building on a green field with a blue sky.

Barn Separation
Point Reyes Station, CA
24 x 36 $2000 framed Buy
2022

Painting of a white house with a front porch, green roof, and red accents, featuring chairs and a small table on the porch, with a white picket fence in the foreground.

612 Commercial Street
Provincetown, MA
16 x 16 $1000 framed Buy
2023

Painting of a sunny backyard with a house, tree shadows, and patches of green grass.

Bradford Street House Study with Cellar Door
Provincetown, MA
16 x 20 $1200 framed Buy
2024

Painting of a white house with a brown roof, green accents, and two white lawn chairs in front. The scene includes shrubs, a pole, and partly cloudy sky in the background. The painting is signed "Daphne Carlson 2021."

Paine Hollow Road House
Wellfleet, MA
36 x 36 $2500 framed Buy
2024

Painting of a coastal house with green trim, featuring large windows, buoys, and a grill outside.

Provincetown Beach Shack Provincetown, MA
16 x 20 $1200 framed Buy
2024

Artwork depicting a row of small sheds with different colors and textures. The sheds are set against a backdrop of stylized trees and a flat green ground.

Alder Road Bolinas Beach Shacks
Bolinas Beach, CA
30 x 40 $2500 framed Buy
2024

Painting of a boathouse on stilts with a sign reading 'FOR HIRE' and vibrant red floral patterns on the facade.

Launch For Hire
Inverness CA
30 x 40 $2500 framed Buy
2025

Abstract painting of a white house under a blue sky with a yellow field and green trees.

West Marin Barn
Point Reyes Station, CA
16 x 16 $1000 framed SOLD
2025

Painting of a white house with a green roof, front porch, and stairs, set against a blue sky. The background features fields and trees.

House on B Street Study No. 2
Point Reyes Station, CA
16 x 16 $1000 framed Buy
2025

Painting of a coastal house with yellow trim and dark green shutters, featuring two colorful striped chairs in the foreground and the ocean in the background.

House on Shore Road
Truro, MA
16 x 16 $1000 framed Buy
2025

Abstract painting of a white barn with a black roof on a green landscape

Point Reyes Barn
Point Reyes Station, CA
30 x40 $2500 framed Buy
2025

Colorful painting of a red barn with geometric patterns and a person holding a paint can near a large sliding door, set against a blue sky and green landscape.

Red Barn Study No. 1 Bear Valley Road
Point Reyes Station, CA
18 x 24 $1500 framed Buy
2025

Interested in purchasing a painting from the show?

Paintings can be purchased through Mercury 20 Gallery in-person or online.

The text 'Mercury 20' in black and red on a light gray background.

Founded in 2006, Mercury 20 is a contemporary art gallery established, supported and operated by San Francisco Bay Area artists. Mercury 20 maintains a gallery space in Oakland, CA as well as an online sales platform. A collective operating structure supports the ability to experiment, develop, exhibit, advance work and sustain the arts community.

About the Show

Gustave Carlson's body of work is a profound exploration of the agricultural landscape, with a particular emphasis on barns, agrarian vernacular, beach cottages, and fields. His studies derive from the picturesque coastlines of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and Point Reyes, California.


In Carlson's paintings, one encounters a blend of the familiar and the enigmatic. His acute awareness of building shapes and perspectives, coupled with his commitment to landscape stewardship, positions his work as a form of documentation. Carlson's perception of the landscape as a blanket or wallpaper that envelops the surface is vividly translated into his art. His depictions of forgotten farmhouse forms and heirloom barns evoke themes of decay, architectural typology, nostalgia, and distinctive color harmonies. Notably, the chairs in his paintings serve as metaphoric representations of the human figure.

Carlson's technique is marked by a juxtaposition of thick, layered applications and thin, underdeveloped areas. Engaging in the simultaneous creation of multiple paintings, Carlson allows for the emergence and overlay of earlier forms, resulting in a palimpsest-like effect known as pentimento. This nuanced interplay between presence and absence is a cornerstone of his artistic comfort zone.

A hallmark of Carlson's oeuvre is his iterative process of revisiting and transforming his works, continually altering shapes and colors until he achieves a cohesive body of work. His practice is profoundly influenced by luminaries such as Richard Diebenkorn, Lois Dodd, Wayne Thiebaud, and Fairfield Porter, whose impact is evident in the contemplative and dynamic nature of his paintings.