Abraham Ferraro
01…Directions
recycled cardboard, tape, postal service. 10’ x 33’ x 36’ but variable sizes. 2011-20
02…Directions
recycled cardboard, tape, postal service. 10’ x 33’ x 36’ but variable sizes. 2011-20
03…Directions
recycled cardboard, tape, postal service. 10’ x 33’ x 36’ but variable sizes. 2011-20
04…Directions
recycled cardboard, tape, postal service. 10’ x 33’ x 36’ but variable sizes. 2011-20
05…Directions
recycled cardboard, tape, postal service. 10’ x 33’ x 36’ but variable sizes. 2011-20
Artist Statement
Directions is an ever-growing series of mail-able sculptures complete with mailing address, postage, shipping labels, and installation directions on them. Pieces are shown as mailed and installation is assembled in a site-specific way reacting to the architecture of the gallery. Every time the Directions piece is exhibited between five and ten new pieces are added and mailed individually to the new venue while the older Directions are delivered by the artist, so the process is evident and traceable by the viewer to the extent that the viewer may figure out exactly when and where the pieces traveled. There are currently 165+ pieces. Directions is more than how art physically gets from A to B, but specifically about the evolution of an artistic vision or process that all artists experience as their work morphs and changes over time… In this case, the dates and addresses lead the viewer through my evolution of form, color, and conceptualization of Mail Art… though I feel more like a Pop Artist appropriating packing stickers in my most recent work. I spend a good deal of time searching the internet for unusual packing stickers… I think it speaks volumes about society when I find shipping labels like those that read, Green Alien Fragile or Pink Elephant Do Not Crush.
Abraham is a graduate of SUNY Fredonia (BFA) and SUNY Albany (MA & MFA). Ferraro has exhibited internationally, nationally, and extensively in New York State, with twenty-four solo performance/exhibitions at galleries such as Artists Space in NYC, Rochester Contemporary Arts Center in NY, and The Gallery at Penn College in Williamsport, PA. He is in collections at Working Artist.org in WA, Albany Institute of History & Art in NY, and Washington Jefferson College in PA. Ferraro has been published in Climbing Magazine (USA), Climb Magazine (UK), Hyperdrawing: Beyond the Lines of Contemporary Art (UK), Gambling the Isle (Colorado), and 365 Artists 365 Days (Wisconsin). His videos have been featured on the homepage of YouTube.com several times. Awards include Best In Show at the Made In NY Exhibition at the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center 2010 & 2012. He was a resident artist at Sculpture Space in 2006. Currently, Ferraro is the Shop Supervisor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences managing a shop he designed and built from scratch. Find him on Facebook and Instagram.