ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
April 28–July 22, 2018
Ferrin Contemporary
1315 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams, MA
RECEPTION & DEMONSTRATION
Saturday April 28, 4-6 pm
Ferrin Contemporary presents DIRECTIONS: Sergei Isupov, the first exhibition in a series in which the gallery will shine focus on artists whose recent work captures a transitional moment in their creative process. The DIRECTIONS series shows results from technical experimentation and explores the development of new installation concepts.
First to be presented is work by Sergei Isupov, whose sculpture titled Directions, inspired the series. A larger-than-life, authoritarian figure, the sculpture points towards a group of the artist’s smaller porcelain works which explore a range of ideas leading in new directions. Isupov, an established sculptor based in Cummington, MA, and Tallinn, Estonia, is world known for his surrealistic, figure-ground personal narratives which simultaneously integrate painted imagery and dimensional surfaces.
SPRING OPENING BUILDING 13 EVENTS
At the opening reception on April 28, from 4–6 p.m., the artist will demonstrate his figure-ground painting technique and discuss the new directions explored in his recent works. This public event takes place during the Spring Building 13 Open House on the MASS MoCA campus and is part of ArtWeek, a statewide program highlighting the importance of supporting the arts in Massachusetts. ArtWeek takes place April 27–May 6.
In conjunction with ARTWEEK in Massachusetts
April 27–May 6, 2018
ABOUT SERGEI ISUPOV
Sergei Isupov is an Estonian-American sculptor internationally known for his highly detailed, narrative works. Isupov explores painterly figure-ground relationships, creating surreal sculptures with a complex artistic vocabulary that combines two- and three-dimensional narratives and animal/human hybrids. He works in ceramic using traditional hand building and sculpting techniques to combine surface and form with narrative painting using stains and clear glaze.
“Everything that surrounds and excites me is automatically processed and transformed into an artwork. The essence of my work is not in the medium or the creative process, but in the human beings and their incredible diversity. When I think of myself and my works, I’m not sure I create them, perhaps they create me.”
Isupov has a long international resume with work included in numerous collections and exhibitions, including the National Gallery of Australia, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (TX), Museum of Arts and Design (NY), Racine Art Museum (WI), Museum of Fine Arts Boston (MA), and the Erie Art Museum (PA), at which he presented selected works in a 20-year career survey Hidden Messages in 2017 and Surreal Promenade in 2019 at the Russian Museum of Art (MN).