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Jackie Ferrara A201 Ribat, 1979 wood 86 x 51 x 20 in.
My work is primarily about -- Jackie Ferrara, 1983 Jackie Ferrara's elegant sculptures are both architectural and figural at the same time, referring to pyramids and towers but also to the human body. By creating openings in the structure, Ferrara not only engages the surrounding space but also endows her volumes with a breathing life-force. Her organic sculptures have a monumental presence softened by an uplifting air of engagement. In contrast to Minimalist sculptors to whom she is often compared, Ferrara introduces irregularities to her work -- twisting and asymmetrical compositions -- that convey energy and process. Carefully planned out in a series of graph paper drawings, the sculptures are balanced and suspended in time. A201 Ribalt was constructed at a seminal point in Ferrara's career. In 1979, the artist was invited to exhibit Tower Beck (1979, Mobil Oil Collection, Fairfax, VA) at the Whitney Biennial. It was also the date of her first site-specific installation, Tower and Bridge at Castle Clinton, an old fort in downtown New York City. Ferrara had only begun working with wood since 1974. During the intervening five years, she developed a vocabulary of shapes informed by her method of cutting, stacking, nailing and gluing lengths of pine purchased from ordinary lumberyards. At first the sculptures were small, squat and stair-like. Robert Smithson's series of ziggarut sculptures titled Mirror Stratum (1966) and Glass Stratum (1967) influenced her direction. Ferrara, who was also interested in the architecture of Louis Kahn, Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Barragon, sought to increase the scale of her work and by 1977, the pyramidal towers emerged. A201 Ribalt resembles Tower Beck in scale and ambition, but it relates more closely to Ajut (1979, Collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York) in its ambiguities of composition and rhythmic patterned openings. From this body of work, Ferrara slowly and naturally gravitated towards the construction of permanent sculptures integrated into a site. Since the 1980s Ferrara has made important contributions to the growing arena of public art with projects that serve the community in their functionality while maintaining their integrity as significant works of art. One example is her Garden Courtyard (1989, Fulton County Government Center) in Atlanta, Georgia where Ferrara collaborated with the landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg. She created sculptural seating areas, paths and stairways that are seamlessly interconnected, providing a pleasurable experience in an urban plaza. Ferrara continues to build both large-scale public and smaller-scaled sculptures that highlight her problem-solving skills and unique creative vision. Barbara Matilsky
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