Gerald Ferguson’s legacy

New York-based conceptual painter and sculptor Rachel Beach
manages to get one sentence in before choking up.

“In terms of being influential on students that then go out into the
world and have a certain idea about how art gets made,” she says,
“there’s no other influence that’s had any single larger effect than
the way that man taught me to think about art.”

So was the enigma and legend of Gerald Ferguson, who died late last
week at the age of 72. It’s a loss that’s still raw and unimaginable
for the local arts community, but also a loss being mourned across the
country and abroad.

Like the process that left impressions on canvas in his
still-touring Frottage Works 1994-2006 series, so too did
Ferguson leave lasting impressions on contemporary art. With a
life-long studio practice and a teaching tenure at NSCAD starting in
1968 and stretching almost 40 years, Ferguson’s impact is
incalculable.

“It’s important for any Maritimer to know how highly he was thought
of across the country,” says Toronto lawyer-turned-art- consultant
Steve Smart. Not only does every reputable corporate collection have at
least one of Ferguson’s works, but they’re always displayed prominently
on the reception floor. And prominent art stars like Micah Lexier
unabashedly regard a Ferguson piece as their “favourite works in
Canadian art history.”

Ferguson’s importance is international too. Right now his work is on
display in New York at both the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney
Museum of American Art.

And yet, as an artist, Ferguson never really had international
representation. Not because his work was lacking, but because he
wouldn’t jump through art world hoops, schmooze and be a lapdog.
Instead Ferguson made his mark as “an activator, energizer and
catalyst. An impresario might make him sound too dilettante-ish. But he
made things happen,” says former student and fellow NSCAD professor
Jayne Wark.

Along with then-NSCAD president Garry Neill Kennedy, in the 1970s,
Ferguson turned Halifax into an unlikely art mecca. He was the man
behind the curtain for a number of the school’s groundbreaking
initiatives including art history. He also generated dialogue and
interest in Nova Scotian folk art through his own collection and
interest.

“Jerry Ferguson was the mind that pushed things,” remembers former
co-worker Eric Cameron from his office in Calgary. “His art and his
contribution to the world of art is something that has had a lasting
significance. And that significance needs to be trumpeted from the
rooftops.”

Ferguson’s drive was tough for anyone to match, but that didn’t mean
you he didn’t expect you to. Long-time friend and president of the
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, Jeffrey Spalding, remembers first
meeting him as student in 1972 and thinking of him as mix of a Marine
drill sergeant and stoic monk.

“He was a very serious purposeful fellow with unbelievably intense
eyes, and when he looked at you there was no where to run,” says
Spalding.

While distancing himself between personal expression or romanticism
in his art and criticism, his remarkable passion squeezed through that
barrier. It wasn’t just beauty that came in through this back door (as
Ferguson was known to say), but also love—a love of art that
resonated in every deep-cutting comment or pined-for compliment.

“He was a master at imparting essential skills while introducing
students to the idea of becoming an artist,” writes Garry Neill
Kennedy. “For that’s what Jerry was, first and foremost—an
artist.”

And as an artist, Ferguson embodied the NSCAD motto—heart, head
and hand. It’s an ironic trio given his desire to omit the hand of the
dandy painter in his work. But his hands shaped the ideals of many
students turned teachers at NSCAD and in faculties abroad, and so it’s
an irony perhaps he could appreciate and can comfort the art world he
left behind.

Related Stories

Gerry Ferguson memorial this weekend

Reception and exhibition planned for the enigmatic art maker and teacher.

This article appears in Oct 15-21, 2009.