JACKIE FERRARA

Jackie Ferrara was born in Detroit, Michigan, later moving to New York and settling into the SoHo artists scene early on, where she continues to live and work. She developed her post-minimalist style beginning in the 1970’s, and is known for creating pyramidal or ziggurat sculptures, working with geometric patterns in often log cabin-like stacked configurations of wood. Ferrara is also a highly accomplished draftsperson, typically working on graph paper or wall drawings procedurally through the elaboration of formal rules. Her work blends or synthesizes various formal approaches, genres, and styles, interacting with conceptual rule-based practices, pattern and design, architecture, and minimalism.

While Ferrara did not start making art with any regularity until her 40’s, she has had an extensive career, winning numerous grants and awards including from the NEA and the Guggenheim Foundation, and has consistently made significant contributions to the recognition of women in the arts. During a period when the Whitney Museum was regularly being protested regarding its lack of inclusion of women artists in its exhibitions, Ferrara was included in its 1970 sculpture annual, and would later be included in two of its biennials in 1973 and 1979. She had her first one person show in 1973 at A.M. Sachs Gallery, where her work was bought by the then well-known conceptual artist Sol Lewitt (with whom she also used to play poker). Following this, Lewitt’s dealer Max Protetch would encounter her work and from then Ferrara began to exhibit with his gallery. Her sculpture has been most influential in the public domain where she continues to produce large-scale works with an attentiveness to place at renowned institutions across the United States. Her public art projects have been honored by institutions including The American Institute of Architects, American Society of Landscape Architects and the Design Art Commission of the City of New York. Her 1997 mosaic work Arches, Towers, Pyramids is installed in 5 locations at Grand Central Station, including the platform walls of the shuttle to Times Square, the corridor for the #7 train and at an entrance to the main terminal.