Critic speaks at ICA

Numerous artists and members of the art world gathered at the Institute of Contemporary Art yesterday to hear nationally renowned art critic Bruce Ferguson discuss the works of three "theatrical" artists. Reading his essay entitled "Performing Objects," Ferguson addressed the works of Janine Antoni, Charles Ray and Jana Sterbak, whose works have been displayed at the Institute since September. He coupled his reading with slides of the artists' pieces. Antoni, in a piece called "Butterfly Kisses," winked 2,000 times, brushing Cover Girl mascara against two white canvases. Ferguson is a professor of graduate studies at Yale, Concordia and Ottawa universities and director and curator of an art gallery in Santa Fe, N.M., according to education curator Susan Witmer. During his lecture, Ferguson explained that within the works of the three artists, "there is a legacy of minimalism." "They refuse abstraction in place of irrefutable material," he said. According to Witmer, the lecture was "for students, people in the art world and people in Philadelphia." Johanna Goodman, a Philadelphia-area artist who attended the lecture, said she enjoyed the event. But she said she found Ferguson to be "professorial in his style rather than down to earth." Monique Smith, a painter who was also in attendance, agreed with Goodman. "He was only speaking to a certain intellectual level," Smith said. "His style of explaining could have been simplified." According to Smith, the most enjoyable part of the lecture was Ferguson's explanations of the role of gender and racism in the artists' works. The ICA holds presentations every Wednesday at 6 p.m. in conjunction with the exhibits on display at the time.