Rafael Ferrer | Nancy Hoffman Gallery

RAFAEL FERRER

The inspiration of European artists has always fueled Ferrer's active mind, offering vast material for visual exploration as well as invention. Ferrer's new work pays homage to the European masters, Alberto Giacometti, Giorgio Morandi and the American sculptor, David Smith. By entering into the studios of modern masters, Ferrer reveals aspects of their work and personae that only an artist can uncover. The paintings are not literal depictions of the artist's studios, they are revelations of both physical and psychological space. Ferrer conceived these paintings using the sculptors and painter as raw material, a touchstone for his rich imagination.

Rafael Ferrer,Solitude,oil on canvas,72 x 72inches,1999

Rafael Ferrer,The Mind,oil on canvas,72 x 84inches,1999

Giacometti's studio, as one might imagine, has little color. Ferrer infuses it with a palette of earth tones, warm beiges, browns, whites and grays. A vista into the artist's space, entitled The Mind, depicts a corner of the studio. On the left are some of Giacometti's recognizable totem-like figure sculptures. More important than the presence of the sculptures themselves is the atmosphere of the studio: the wood burning stove with cut logs for heating, the walls, the floor, the other "stuff" that surrounds an artist in the midst of the private and intense act of creation. Ferrer has captured both the spirit of the artist and the energy of the universal creative artistic endeavor, all summed up in the title, The Mind.

In contrast to the subdued tones of the Giacometti works, is the palette Ferrer uses while paying homage to David Smith. One cannot help but think of Ferrer's paintings of the tropics in association with the pinks, yellows, reds, browns and blacks. A painting of Smith's studio entitled Abstract once again invites multiple levels of perception. This is the floor of Smith's studio with an array of sculpture materials: swirling, bent pieces of metal, materials we cannot identify, the corner of a work table and stool animate and activate the floor. But, once again, this is not a literal visitation of a studio, it is a poetic evocation in paint of the truly abstract nature of creating art, all in rich, warm, moving hues.

Rafael Ferrer,Virgin Isle, oil on canvas,70 x 60inches,1999

Rafael Ferrer,Abstract,oil on canvas,56 x 42inches,1999

Rafael Ferrer,Smoke,oil on canvas,36 x 24inches,1999

When Ferrer began his paintings in the '50s, his first abstract yet figure-referential painting was created with David Smith in mind. During his career, Ferrer has created sculpture, painted tents, constructions of wildly original materials, environments with neon lights, even happenings with leaves and ice in the late '60s and early '70s. He is an artist whose imagination knows no bounds.
Rafael Ferrer was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1933. He studied at Staunton Military Academy where he learned to play the drums. In 1951 he went to Syracuse University where he began to paint on his own. Ferrer moved to New York in 1954 to work as a drummer at night and to paint by day. He returned to Puerto Rico in 1959 and in 1963 began to exhibit his paintings at the University of Puerto Rico galleries. In 1966 he moved to Philadelphia to make art and teach. From 1966 forward, Ferrer devoted himself to his painting full-time, a self-taught artist.

Rafael Ferrer,Shell Sea I, oil on canvas,60x60inches,1999

Rafael Ferrer,Shell Sea II,oil on canvas,72x50inches,1999

Ferrer's work has been widely shown in this country at Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo; American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York; The Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock; The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois; Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach; The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio; Center of Contemporary Art, Miami; Center for the Arts, Vero Beach; Center for the Fine Arts, Miami; Columbus Museum of Arts and Sciences, Georgia; The Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati; Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston; The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Dayton Art Institute, Ohio; Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington; Denver Art Museum, Colorado; The Discovery Museum, Bridgeport, Connecticut; Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale; Fort Worth Art Museum, Texas; Grand Rapids Art Museum, Michigan; Greenville County Museum of Art, South Carolina; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; The Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, New York; Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana; The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; Instituto de Cultura Puertorriquena, San Juan; Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha; Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, Texas; Madison Art Center, Wisconsin; Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum, San Antonio; El Museo del Barrio, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, New York; Pan American Union, Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania; The Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa; Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona; Queens Museum of Art, Flushing, New York; Seattle Art Museum, Washington; The Spanish Institute, New York and Americas Society, New York; Tampa Museum of Art, Florida; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts, among other institutions, and abroad at Musee d'Art Contemporain, Montreal; Palazzo Ducale, Italy; Tamayo Museum, Mexico City.
His works are included in numerous public collections, among them Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo; American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York; The Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland; The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio; Denver Art Museum, Colorado; Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana; Lehmbruck Museum, Duisberg, Germany; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museo de Arte Moderno, Bogota, Colombia; Museo de la Princesa, Old San Juan, Puerto Rico; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museo de Ponce, Puerto Rico; Pasadena Museum, California; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.
The artist has been the recipient of three National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships; grants from the Pew Foundation and the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation and a Guggenheim Award.

Rafael Ferrer's Biography

Prints by Rafael Ferrer

Works on Paper Rafael Ferrer Exhibition