Ferrara Showman Gallery is proud to present “Offerings,” the first solo exhibition in twenty-three years for New Orleans-based artist and gallery co-owner, Jonathan Ferrara. For his gallery return, Jonathan Ferrara unveils over thirty new wall-mounted sculptures – returning to and reclaiming his artist-self and creative process.
These compositions symbolize and embody the various modes of human connection. My intention is to convey a universal-relatability, presenting the viewer with the freedom to contemplate and interpret the works whilst seeing themselves within it. These works are my Offerings. Conceptually, my work has often involved the use of multiples. I find an inherent power and emphasis in repetition - rows, grids, stacking, and sets have always appealed to me.
Jonathan Ferrara, Artist and gallery co-owner, Ferrara Showman Gallery
- “Dissemination”: the flow of information in an outward motion from the center, from large to small and vice versa. Knowledge is spread from one source to the masses. Voices become louder as they grow in number.
- “Worship”: where the hands move from smaller to larger as to emulate the movement inward where the group’s energy is moving towards a focal point, a common goal, desire, or belief.
- “Community and Protection”: where the larger hands (people) are protecting the growth and development of their community, their family, their society.
- Meditation and Contemplation: the active process of reflection, consideration, and imagination with a focus inward.
I am trying to convey all of these messages, via the arrangement and orientation of the individual sets of hands. In the main gallery, most of the works are monochromatic in nature, with gold, black copper and chrome. This is meant for the viewer to focus on the form and the content without any distraction of color."
Jonathan Ferrara, Artist and gallery co-owner, Ferrara Showman Gallery
Often, we look for the human form in nature, in clouds, in trees, and many other visuals from nature and I find it interesting to be able to utilize the human form to create works that can emulate nature. The shape and form of hands are important. They are a universal symbol of an offering - a gesture of peace, vulnerability, sharing, and receiving. These hands gesture to the viewer, inviting them into the idea that is presented, welcoming them to be a part of the work and to see themselves in the messages offered.
Jonathan Ferrara, Artist and gallery co-owner, Ferrara Showman Gallery
Ferrara Showman Gallery is a collective environment of creative visions; a commercial gallery with a public conscience. Co-owned by artist, activist, and entrepreneur Jonathan Ferrara and art historian and curator Matthew Weldon Showman, the gallery was founded in 1998 by Ferrara to give young and emerging artists a much-needed voice. Offering a forum for the exchange of creative ideas, the gallery’s program features contemporary artists whose aesthetics reflect a sense of purpose, mission, and message and whose studio practices encompass a wide array of mediums from painting and photography to public sculpture, video, and installation art. Since its inception, the gallery has focused on cutting-edge works by local, national, and international artists, most notably: Cuba, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and Venezuela.
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Kimberlee Lauer
BMF
klauer@bmfcomms.com
504.495.0073
504.343.6827 or matthew@ferrarashowman.com
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