Building the Essentials: Ferne Jacobs (4/2/2022–6/18/2022)

(LOS ANGELES, CA) – The Craft in America Center is pleased to present the first ever retrospective of Los Angeles artist Ferne Jacobs. Jacobs has been at the forefront of the revolution in fiber art since the 1960s. This exhibition will span more than fifty years of pivotal work and include approximately 30 artworks created by Jacobs between the mid 1960s and 2022. This momentous survey will be on display in Los Angeles, where Jacobs has lived and practiced for decades, yet rarely exhibited her work. It will explore Jacobs’ overall evolution, highlight her unrelenting search for meaning in structure, and provide insight into the impetus for her work.

This exhibition will also highlight Jacobs’ role as an innovator in the advancement of fiber as a field for artistic exploration. Technically, Jacobs is recognized for her mastery of material and process. Reinventing and advancing traditional techniques used for basketry, including knotting, coiling, and twining, Jacobs has generated an entirely new language of sculptural art. Her acute sense of color melded with her poetic and intuitive approach set her work apart.

This gathering of Jacobs’ work will be an opportunity for the public to experience the force of her fiber sculptures and to glean inspiration from what she has accomplished artistically. Every piece of Jacobs’ work represents a personal artistic journey. Her path is revealed as she constructs the form and this is a revelatory process that she translates thread by thread. Jacobs continues to evaluate and investigate her practice and to discover new solutions with exceptional dedication.

The exhibition will include key works from the entire span of Jacobs’ career and each of her artistic phases. Rarely seen pieces will be gathered together from collections that are scattered across the U.S. This exhibition will be a holistic look at the development of a singular artistic voice as it thrives in its prime.

Related Programming:

In addition to the physical exhibition, Craft in America will create a virtual exhibition that will expand engagement and be accessible online to anyone unable to visit the Center in person. The exhibition will be accompanied by a range of public programs, including an artist talk, demonstration, and specialized hands-on workshop. Students from our Craft in Schools program with underserved K-12 LA schools will have the chance to visit the exhibition and learn about Jacobs’ artistic creations firsthand, which will open their eyes to the possibilities of working in the artistic medium of fiber.

About the Artist:

Ferne Jacobs, who moved to Los Angeles at an early age, has devoted herself to fiber art since the mid-60s when she took a weaving workshop with the artist Arline Fisch. She received her M.F.A. from Claremont Graduate University in 1976 and has been featured in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and abroad. She was awarded the National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships in 1973–74 and 1977– 78. Jacobs is the recipient of the Flintridge Foundation Award for Visual Artists, and in 1995 she was named a Fellow of the College of Fellows by the American Craft Council. Jacobs’ work can be found in numerous public collections, including the Smithsonian National Museum of American Art (Washington D.C.), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City), the Museum of Arts and Design (New York City), the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), the de Young Museum (San Francisco), and the Rhode Island School of Design (Providence).

Please direct all media inquiries to:

Lauren Over, Communications

press@craftinamerica.org

Craft in America Center

8415 W. Third St., Los Angeles, CA 90048

Hours: Tues – Sat, 12:00pm – 6:00pm

tel: (323) 951-0610

www.craftinamerica.org/center