MAX FERGUSON’S NEW YORK
Max Ferguson is, without a doubt, a New York realist, choosing the city’s sights as his subjects for detailed depiction. An exhibit opens this week at the ACA Galleries that includes several of his recent paintings, including “Wonder Wheel” (2002) and “My Father at Coney Island (Skee Ball)” (2002). Ferguson is well-known for his works focusing on New York Jewish life, both sacred and secular, including “I’ll Have What She’s Having,” a portrait of the counterman at Katz’s Delicatessen, and one of a Lubavitch Torah scribe hard at work. His work is included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of the City of New York.
As buildings and unofficial landmarks are torn down year after year, his paintings provide the historical memory of the phases of an ever-changing city. Looking at his paintings, it’s hard to believe they aren’t photographs.
ACA Galleries, 529 W. 20th St., fifth floor; April 10-May 10, Tue.-Sat. 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m.; free. (212-206-8080)
