Tenri Cultural Institute is excited to announce a new exhibition by Ian Ferguson. The paintings in the exhibition include works made Ian Ferguson between 1965 and 2016. Ian was born on the island of Guernsey in 1933, and grew up in Bournemouth, England.

He studied architecture at the Oxford School of Architecture, and worked in London from 1956 to 1962 for Chamberlin, Powell and Bon on the early stages of the Barbican Centre.

Ian moved to New York City in 1962, where he worked for Oppenheimer, Brady & Lehrecke; Edward Larrabee Barnes; and Davis Brody and Bond, where he remained from 1968 until he retired in 2003 to concentrate on painting.

Throughout his life, he had a strong interest in music and art beside his architectural profession, and was making paintings since his high school days in Bournemouth.

Ian enjoyed New York City’s endless cultural environment ever since he arrived here, and visits to museums and galleries, and attending musical performances, were an important part of his daily life.

Ian’s paintings are related to his architectural background. His early works were in oil on canvas but mostly he used acrylic on canvas until he developed the series he called “cast acrylic painting”. They are similar to the method of monotype printing – he painted them in reverse. The front image was painted on a sheet of plastic, and the painting was then built up by layer after layer of background colors. He placed an insect screen on the back and covered it with more acrylic to reinforce the painting, and then peeled off the whole piece from the plastic. His hanging system is influenced by Japanese hanging scroll paintings he saw in Japan.

He died in New York City on December 20, 2018 and is survived by his wife and two children.