A community college drop-out, Chris Ferebee is (obviously unashamed) self-taught in photography, mixed media, digital media, furniture design, and graphic design. Born in Virginia Beach in 1971, based in New York since 1997, and in Houston, TX since 2004, Ferebee continually expands into new areas of art and design which include experimentation with various types of industrial composite materials and found objects. He has been with the stock photo agencies Photonica and Graphistock both located in NYC since 1992 and has had works published by such diverse clients as IBM, Microsoft, Sony, Saatchi & Saatchi, and American Express. He is also the principal for the Houston-based design studio, 521 Design, formed with business partner Laurice Parkin in 1999 where he has designed award-winning and internationally recognized furniture designs.

Growing up a part of skateboard and surf culture, along with punk and post punk music (and it's graphics), influenced by artists like Rauschenberg, Twombly, Beuys and others, with interests in science and technology, Ferebee's work is as eclectic as his varied influences. (He obviously likes run-on sentences too.)

Constantly creating new work, Ferebee continues to explore new ideas in mixed media, photography, digital media and furniture design. His current work ranges from fiber collages created with unusual industrial textiles commonly found in aerospace technology to digitally generated paintings to limited edition digital prints.

Work can be viewed at :

http://www.fivetwentyonedesign.com/cf.html
http://www.fivetwentyonedesign.com

Education

Community college drop-out

Exhibitions (Furniture)

2004 - Scandinavian Furniture Fair, Copenhagen, Denmark

2004 - IMM - Cologne Furniture Fair, Cologne, Germany

2003 - "Young Designers Showcase", Clockwork Apple, NYC

2003 - "Regeneration", re:place gallery, NYC

2001 - "Carrefour de la Creation" Exhibit, Centre Pompidou - Paris, France

2001 - "New Design New York", Totem Gallery, New York City

2001 - T.A.G. (Ten Avant Garde) Team curated by *Surface Magazine and Totem Design, Milan / NYC

2000 - ICFF - International Contemporary Furniture Fair, NYC

Exhibitions (Art)

2004 - "The Big Show" juried exhibition, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX

2004 - "Mix Minds" group show, Barbara Davis Gallery, Houston, TX

2003 - "Night of 1000 Drawings", Artists Space, NYC

2003 - "Young Designers Showcase", Clockwork Apple, NYC

2001 - "New Design New York", Totem Gallery, New York City

1998 - Mid-Atlantic Juried Exhibition, D¹Art Center, Norfolk, VA

1994 - Mid-Atlantic Juried Exhibition, Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News, VA

1992 - Mid-Atlantic Juried Exhibition, D¹Art Center, Norfolk, VA

1989 - Solo exhibit, The Working Gallery, Virginia Beach, VA

Other

2004 - Infiniti billboard ad campaign, "A Study in White", NYC

2003 - Irving Sandler Artists File, Artists Space, NYC

Awards

2001 - Design Distinction Award for furniture design from I.D. Magazine's Annual      Design Review

2000 - Good Design Award from the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture      and Design for excellence in furniture design for the Hive Shelving Unit

1998 - Award of Excellence, Mid-Atlantic Juried Exhibition, D¹Art Center, Norfolk, VA

1994 - Award of Achievement, Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News, VA

1992 - Award of Merit, Mid-Atlantic Juried Exhibition, D¹Art Center in Norfolk, VA

Bibliography

2004 - The Design Encyclopedia, Museum of Modern Art/Lawrence King Publishing

2003 - Bent Ply : The Art of Plywood Furniture, Princeton Architectural Press

2003 - International Design Yearbook 18, Abbeville Press

2002 - Furniture Design, teNeues Publications

1995 - The End of Print : The Graphic Design of David Carson, Chronicle Books

1994 - Alternative Photography, Graphis Press Corp.

Editorial

Dwell - June 2004

Readymade Magazine- May 2004

Azure - March 2004

Architectural Record - March 2003

Monument - Australia / Aug.-Sept. 2002

Nylon - May 2002

Studio Voice - Japan / March 2002

Clear - Feb. / 2002

Case De Abitare - Italy / Jan.-Feb. / 2002

I.D. Magazine Annual Design Review 2001

Intramuros - France / Dec. 2001

Azure - Nov.-Dec. 2001

City Magazine - Sept.-Oct. 2001

Design Diffusion News - Italy / Oct. 2001

City Magazine - March-April 2001

H.O.M.E. Magazine - Germany / May-June 2001

Surface* - Issue #29. 2001

Echoes - Issue #34. 2000

Brutus - Japan / NYC Issue, 2000