Art Lesson #1

Lets talk art people.

I currently work at a downtown Toronto, commercial art gallery. I have had the amazing opportunity to have met Canada’s most influential contemporary artists, such as Gerald Ferguson. If you dont know that name, google it. Seriously.. because you should know him.

Gerald Ferguson became my friend. At 72 years old, Jerry walked into my life.. no introduction was needed. I was supremely intimidated, almost star struck. Little did i know, he was going to be one of my newest cherished people in my life. (He would hate me using the word cherish).

It didn't take me long to learn that Jerry was a no muss no fuss kind of guy. He told anyone and everyone what he thought, and didn’t care if they liked it or not. As gruff as he was, he and i really hit it off. When he came into Toronto from Halifax, NS for exhibitions or art fairs i knew to be on my game. Not that i feared the wrath of Jerry, just because it was a challenge i could meet. If he got gruff with me, i got gruff back. Then i would get that smirk from him.. like "oh, so you arn't a mouse".

An installation week with Jerry would be more than just hanging art on walls. Jerry would arrive before the gallery was open, rattle the door handle, disgruntled to any onlooker-- coffee in one hand and a cig in the other (had it been the afternoon it would be a bottomless diet coke can). I would open up the doors and ask " Hey Jerry, how are you?" He would reply "Fuckin cold. Why does it have to be so goddamned cold?" I would just laugh. I would then settle in for a morning filled with Jerry chats. They might have taken away from my work, but i'm not complaining. He would just talk, sometimes complain, but always leave me smiling. He was one of those grumpy men you couldnt help but adore. After long days of installation were over, and Jerry left with his Torontonian family and friends, i would still have the aura of Jerry around me in the place of empty diet coke cans.

Over the course of getting to know each other, Jerry told me of his most recent obstacles. He told me of his accident that nearly killed him, leaving him with one good arm. Luckily not his right. Although it still put a damper on his work.

[The majority of Jerry's work was done by a technique called frottage. He would place an object under an unprimed canvas and then rub enamel over the surface with a roller. To find out more please visit http://www.ccca.ca ]

Gerald Ferguson One Drain Cover image curtosy of Wynick/Tuck Gallery

Jerry told me of his new series, which brought him back to painting. Still with a roller, but not frottage. It was the closest he came to real painting in about 40 years of his artistic career.

I asked Jerry why he got into the accident -- was it bad weather etc. He told me, "nah.. I was thinking about my work". He was passionate about his art, and the art of others -- that he liked, or desperately disliked. As horrible and strenuous his recovery was, his new series , Landscapes was amazing, and had rave reviews. Below is my all time favourite. Jerry sent me a sketch of it, which is proudly installed in my home.

Gerald Ferguson Rock Pile 2008 Image Curtosy of Wynick/Tuck Gallery

Following his Landscape show, his arm healed. With the assistance of an arm band he was back to frottaging. In the summer, Jerry and I emailed about his new work, the damn tall ships coming into Harbor and how he hated tourists. The new work arrived in the gallery and it was fantastic, a series of frottaged chain works New Chain Paintings. I wrote him and told him how much i loved it, and how excited i was to see him in January. We heard from Jerry less and less. We thought a lot of his aloofness was due to his studio move, and maybe new work. I started wondering about him more and more. I asked the director about him, and she said she was worried about him. Jerry was bipolar and suffered the lowest of lows at times.

We both agreed to email him. I came in to work the following day and heard the news of Jerry's death.

It was too late to email him.

It was a shock to everyone who knew him, and Canadian art suffered a huge loss. I really wish I had gotten closer to Jerry, to learn more from him. I will miss the diet coke cans, the wafting cig smell and his smirk. I know i was lucky to have gotten to know him. The man behind the art. The man behind many beloved family, friends and fans.

During his last visit, I asked Jerry for some advice. I was in a real slump, I didn’t know what direction to go back in or towards in regards to my art work. Jerry told me something very similar to what he wrote of his last series:

When I am stuck, looking back at my earlier work is consistent with my long held belief that an artist should copy, copy, copy everyone until eventually he can copy himself. Or put another way,“ the only thing new in the world is the history you haven’t read” (Harry Truman).

Gerald Ferguson 1937-2009