ELISE FERGUSON

MOD ONE

OPENING RECEPTION & ARTIST TALK:
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18TH
5:00 - 8:00PM

IN CONVERSATION WITH SARAH HOTCHKISS:
6:00 - 7:00PM

EXHIBITION DATES:
MARCH 18 - MAY 2, 2026

SCROLL FOR EXHIBITION IMAGES

Ferguson’s exhibition Mod One, is inspired by the modernist ideas of functionality and characteristics of clean lines, bold geometric patterns and playful energy. The forms, always similar yet never identical, create a visual rhythm that transforms the entirety of the space into a vibrant, dynamic field. Imperfections, smudges and pencil markings imbue the work with texture, energy and a palpable sense of touch. What at first appears exacting quickly reveals a hand-hewn quality that animates the surfaces. Color is yet another unifying element. The artist thoughtfully juxtaposes the calming indigo blues of Mod One, and lowered saturation of the yellow and greens in Early Grove against the bolder, brighter works across the room. 

Hand printed in the artist’s studio, the linen works continue the artist’s exploration of hybrid painting/sculptures, and the ways in which flow and movement define spaces. The linear interventions of Mod One and Early Grove are anchored by the structure of the gallery, but are simultaneously open and loose. By inserting simple linen constructions and reframing the architectural environment, Ferguson explores something similar to what Fred Sandback (minimalist and conceptual sculptor) termed “pedestrian space,” and the idea of wanting to get off the pedestal, get off the canvas, and have the work right there along with everything else in the world. The term pedestrian also “involves the idea of utility—that a sculpture can be there to be engaged actively, while also having utopian glimmerings of art and life happily cohabiting.” One does not simply look at the work, but rather, one shares space with it.

Ferguson conceives a relationship to space seemingly both dematerialized and entirely concrete,The works present the feeling of being solid and dimensional - like a sculptural wall work -  but subtly elaborate on the phenomenological experience of space and volume. Hung slightly off the wall to give the feeling and dimension of a stretched canvas, the top edge is crisp like a painting but the bottom is loose and flows like a garment when the viewer walks by. In a quiet shift, the work begins a collaboration with the viewer and the air between them.

Elise Ferguson (b.1964 Richmond, VA) earned her MFA from The University of Illinois, Chicago in 1995, and her BFA from The School of Art Institute of Chicago in 1988. Her work has been exhibited extensively nationally and internationally, with recent solo exhibitions at Shrine Gallery, Romer Young Gallery, 57W57 Arts, Halsey Mckay, and Barton College Art Galleries, amongst others. Selected group exhibitions include Massey Klein, Illinois State University, Able Baker Contemporary, Dieu Donné Papermill and Johannes Vogt Gallery, amongst others. Awards and Residencies include the 2018 Dieu Donne Paper Variables Artist, the 2014 Northern Trust Purchase Prize - Expo Chicago, Artist-in-Residence: Illinois State University, SIU-Carbondale, University Museum: Merit Award, MacDowell Colony and the Socrates Sculpture Park Residency. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Artforum, The Wall Street Journal, Contemporary Magazine, Interior Design, Art on Paper, Modern Painters and Art News, amongst others.

For more information, please contact the gallery at info@romeryounggallery.com or 415.550.7483.