Gerald Ferguson

Gerald Ferguson (b. 1937, Cincinnati, OH – d. 2009) was a conceptual artist and painter who lived and taught in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In the late 1960s, Ferguson traded in New York’s conceptual art scene for the chance to transform a provincial art college in Nova Scotia.

Over the next decades, Ferguson worked to turn NSCAD (Nova Scotia College of Art and Design) into a conceptual hub. Over his almost forty-year career, Ferguson made conceptual works and frottage paintings, for which he is well known in Canada. In his frottage pieces, he treated folk and decorative elements with a post-minimalist approach, rubbing black house paint over canvas purchased at the local sail-making shop, repeating patterns of mostly quotidian objects such as Victorian fireplace panels, chains, ropes, and rods, which leave the viewer with a sense of hard-earned humanity.

Artist: Studio

"My painting process for most part has been based on using hardware supplies for several reasons: to avoid inflected marks, to give distance and a simple craft-like basis to the work, and to keep process and concept visible and readable at a glance by the viewer."

Artworks

Gerald Ferguson,

Trees and Rock,

2008,

48 × 55 in (121.92 × 139.7 cm)

Enamel on canvas

Gerald Ferguson,

2 Drain Covers,

2006,

33 × 33 in (83.82 × 83.82 cm)

Enamel on canvas

 

Gerald Ferguson,

Landscape,

2008,

20 × 24 ½ in (50.8 × 62.23 cm)

Enamel on canvas

 

Gerald Ferguson,

Logs,

2008–2009,

48 × 48 in (121.92 × 121.92 cm)

Enamel on canvas

 

Gerald Ferguson,

Rocks and Bushes,

2009,

48 × 55 in (121.92 × 139.70 cm)

Enamel on paint

Gerald Ferguson,

Sea Rocks,

2008,

20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.96 cm)

Enamel on canvas

Gerald Ferguson,

9 Drain Covers,

2006,

55 × 48 in (139.70 × 121.92 cm)

Enamel on canvas

Gerald Ferguson,

1 Km Rod,

2006,

104 ½ × 48 in (265.43 × 121.92 cm)

Enamel on canvas

Gerald Ferguson,

Drop Cloth 008,

2003,

55 × 134 in (139.70 × 340.36 cm)

Mixed media on dropcloth

Gerald Ferguson,

Untitled,

1969,

71 × 73 in (180.34 × 185.42 cm)

Enamel on canvas

50Ft. Rope,

2000,

21 × 28 in (53.34 × 71.12 cm)

Enamel on canvas

Installation Views

Installation view, Last Landscapes, Canada, New York, 2023

Exhibitions

Gerald Ferguson, Last Landscapes, Sep 8 – Oct 21, 2023
Gerald Ferguson, Gerald Ferguson, Work, Stencil through Frottage From 1968, Jan 7 – Feb 12, 2012

Publications

Gerald Ferguson
The Standard Corpus, 2023

Gerald Ferguson
Work. Stencil Through Frottage From 1968, 2012

Gerald Ferguson
Frottage Works 1994-2006, As Can Paintings, 2007

Gerald Ferguson
1,000,000 Grapes, 1998

Press

Blake Gopnik "What to See in N.Y.C. Galleries in September." New York Times September 8, 2023

Annie Ochmanek "New York: Gerald Ferguson." Artforum February 12, 2012

"Gerald Ferguson. Work." Time Out New York February 12, 2012

Robert Berlind "Gerald Ferguson." Art in America February 12, 2012

"Automatic Realism." The Daily Beast January 10, 2012

CV

Gerald Ferguson

b. 1937, Cincinnati, OH

d. 2009, Halifax, Canada

  • Education

    • 1966

      MFA, Ohio University, Athens, OH

    • 1962

      BS, Wilmington College, Wilmington, OH

  • Selected Solo Exhibitions

    • 2023

      Last Landscapes, Canada, New York, NY

    • 2019

      Gerald Ferguson, Glenbow, Calgary, Canada

    • 2018

      CLOSE TO THE EDGE… THE WORK OF GERALD FERGUSON, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Canada

    • 2016

      Gerald Ferguson and Robin Peck: I Am Not An Answer, Cooper Cole Gallery, Toronto, Canada

    • 2015

      Beauty Through the Backdoor, FRED.GIAMPIETRO Gallery, Branford, CT

    • 2014

      Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto, Canada