Tom Ferrara

photo of Tom

Tom Ferrara

With paint I feel like anything is possible.
I approach each painting as a new experiment and opportunity to test the limit of the material. Many times it leads to disaster but there are times when amidst the chaos, a harmonic resonance is attained and I am filled with a sense of intuitive revelation. This is why I paint -

It is like finding a lost connection or remembering something once known but long forgotten, a kind of existential awakening and everything seems to fit, if only for a moment. Even when things are most dire, a small action can have a great impact and result in clarification or some form of resolution. Usually it only resonates for a short time, but when it remains, the painting is finished and I can leave it alone.


Solo Exhibits
2010, 2008, 2005, 2004, 1997 Katharina Rich Perlow Gallery, New York, NY
1993 Benton Gallery, Southampton, NY
Selected Group Exhibitions
2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2003, 2001, 1999, 1993, 1987 Katharina Rich Perlow Gallery, New York, NY
2008 National Academy of Fine Art, Faculty Show, New York, NY
2007, 2006 Ober Gallery, Kent, Connecticut
2006 Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire.
1999 Delaplane Visual Arts Center - Maryland, Regional Juried Exhibition
1st Prize-Painting Jack Rasmussen:Juror
1996 Montgomery College 50th Anniversary Alumni Exhibit, MD
1995 Albright-Knox Members Gallery, Buffalo, NY
1994 Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Loretto, PA
Clark & Co., Washington D.C.
1993 Albright-Knox Members Gallery, Buffalo, NY
1988 Columbus Museum of Fine Art, Columbus, OH
Los Angeles Art Expo, Los Angeles, CA
1987 C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD
1986 East Hampton Center for Contemporary Art, NY
Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton, NY
1985, 1984 Bologna and Landi Gallery, East Hampton, NY
1982 Spring Artists, Ashwagh Hall, East Hampton, NY
Elaine Benson Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY
1981 Loonan Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY
1980 Willow Gallery, Potomac, MD
1977 Gramley Collection, Potomac, MD
Montgomery County Juried Art Show, MD - 3rd Prize Walter Hopps: Juror
1975 Montgomery College, Rockville, MD
1974 Gallery Voya, Washington DC
Selected Collections
Republic National Bank, New York, NY
Teterboro Airport, New Jersey
Time-Warner Inc. New York, NY
Pepsico, Purchase, NY
Paul Jensen, St. George, UT
Tanagraphics Inc. New York, NY
Lyle Gramley, Potomac, MD
Fawaz & Nina Taivassalo, Tokyo, Japan
Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, New York, NY
The Four Seasons Hotel, New York, NY
Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton, NY
Bibliography
Haggerty, Gerard, Review, ARTnews, October 2008
Rigaux, Pamela, "Artist Masters the Art", The News-
Post Horizon
, Frederick, MD, May 16, 2004
Kagan, Dick, "Traveling Collector", Art & Antiques,
November, 2003
Haggerty, Gerard, Review, ARTnews, April 1998
Hazelwood, Carl, Review Review Magazine,
October 15, 1997
Hamburger, Susan, "Moving Passages: Tom Ferrara
Redefines Lyric Abstraction"
, Cover Magazine
Vol 11, No 5, 1997
Harrison, Helen New York Times, January 1997
Dorsey, John, "DeKooning Assistants Seem Two Parts of a Whole",
The Sun Baltimore, MD, 1986
Slivka, Rose C. S., "From the Studio",
The East Hampton Star, August 12, 1986
Catalogue, "11 Painters", Guild Hall Museum,
East Hampton, NY 1986
Teaching / Lectures
2008 - 2010National Academy of Fine Art, New York, NY
2005 - 2007Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH.
2001State University of New York, Binghamton, NY
2000Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
1997Washington Studio School, Washington, D.C.
1996Delaplane Visual Arts Center, Frederick, MD
Education and Training
1979 - 1987Assistant to Willem deKooning, East Hampton, NY
1973 - 1975Montgomery College, Rockville, MD
1971 - 1972University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Born: 1953 Brooklyn, NY