Knopp Ferro: Sculpture Defying Gravity

In this new series of sculptures, Knopp Ferro has re-functioned iron to create a sequence of lighter than air architectural constructs.  Suspended from the ceiling, floating effortlessly above us, or surging straight up from the floor, ready to extend beyond the ceiling, all the works challenge not only our understanding, but also our experience of weight, space and time.

Though currently based in Cologne, Ferro spent half of the 70’s and most of the 80’s working and touring throughout Europe as a member of, respectively, the artist collective Jet Ferro and performance theatre Bumper to Bumper.  His former theatrical concerns, spatial and aural arrangements that engender involvement or estrangement, are now articulated in his miraculously unaffected sculptural inventions.  His compositions conjure a myriad of visual possibilities:  Asian calligraphy writ by the legs of flamingoes, colonies of wire designed for microscopic tightrope walkers or line drawings of industrial temples writ in air.

With minimal detail, the simplest of materials and meticulous technique, Ferro endows each work with a persuasive and complicated life: a perfect marriage of geometry, alchemy and artistry.

Ferro’s work is included in a number of international public, private and museum collections.  This exhibition marks his initial showing in Los Angeles.