Charles Ross (artist)

For the German landscape painter born in 1816, see Karl Ross.
Charles Ross
Born (1937-12-17) December 17, 1937 (age 86)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
Known forSculpture, Land art, public art, drawing, painting
Notable workStar Axis, Dwan Light Sanctuary, Harvard Business School Chapel, Year of Solar Burns
Spouse(s)Jill O'Bryan (1995–current), Elizabeth Ginsberg (1977–1986)
AwardsGuggenheim Fellowship, Andy Warhol Foundation
Websitecharlesrossstudio.com
Charles Ross, Star Axis. Looking north toward the entrance to the Star Tunnel, a stairway exactly parallel to Earth's axis; earth, sandstone, granite, concrete, bronze, stainless steel; 11 stories high, 1/10th mile across; (1971–in progress).

Charles Ross (born 1937) is an American contemporary artist known for work centered on natural light, time and planetary motion.[1][2][3] His practice spans several art modalities and includes large-scale prism and solar spectrum installations, "solar burns" created by focusing sunlight through lenses, paintings made with dynamite and powdered pigment, and Star Axis, an earthwork built to observe the stars.[4][5][6][7] Ross emerged in the mid-1960s at the advent of minimalism, and is considered a forerunner of "prism art"—a sub-tradition within that movement—as well as one of the major figures of land art.[1][5] His work employs geometry, seriality, refined forms and surfaces, and scientific concepts in order to reveal optical, astronomical and perceptual phenomena.[8][9][1] Artforum critic Dan Beachy-Quick wrote that "math as a manifestation of fundamental cosmic laws—elegance, order, beauty—is a principle undergirding Ross’s work … [he] becomes a maker-medium of a kind, constructing various methods for sun and star to create the art itself."[10]

Ross has exhibited at venues including the Museum of Modern Art,[11] PS1,[9] Dwan Gallery, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles,[12] and Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.[13] His artworks are collected by the Whitney Museum of American Art, Centre Georges Pompidou, and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, among other institutions.[14][15][16] In 2011, he was named a Guggenheim Fellow.[17] He lives and works in SoHo, Manhattan and New Mexico with his wife, painter Jill O'Bryan.[8]

  1. ^ a b c McEvilley, Thomas. "Charles Ross: Following the North Star," Charles Ross: The Substance of Light, Santa Fe, NM: Radius Books, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  2. ^ Kuspit, Donald. "Charles Ross: Light's Measure," Art in America, March–April 1978, p. 96–9.
  3. ^ Karlin, Susan. "A Sculptor Works Up an Exposé of the Stars' Secrets," The New York Times, November 3, 2002. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  4. ^ Beachy-Quick, Dan. "Charles Ross, Rule Gallery," Artforum, December 2020. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  5. ^ a b Hass, Nancy. "What Happens When a Single Art Project Becomes a Decades-Long Obsession?," The New York Times, September 18, 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  6. ^ Adlmann, Jan Ernst. "Charles Ross," Art in America, October 5, 2012. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  7. ^ Larson, Kay. " New Landscapes In Art," The New York Times, May 13, 1979. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  8. ^ a b Hass, Nancy. "A Land Art Pioneer’s Adventures in Time and Space," The New York Times, July 21, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  9. ^ a b Brenson, Michael. "The Landscape Maintains Its Hold on American Artists," The New York Times, March 9, 1986. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  10. ^ Beachy-Quick, Dan. "Cosmic Dancer: Dan Beachy-Quick on Charles Ross’s Star Axis," Artforum, October 28, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  11. ^ Museum of Modern Art. Charles Ross, Artists. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  12. ^ Nisbet, James. "Ends of the Earth," Artforum, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  13. ^ Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. "Charles Ross: The Substance of Light," Exhibitions. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  14. ^ Whitney Museum of American Art Charles Ross, Cube Stack, Works. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  15. ^ Centre Pompidou. Charles Ross, Sunlight Dispersion, Resources. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  16. ^ Ottmann, Klaus (et al). Charles Ross: The Substance of Light, Santa Fe, NM: Radius Books, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  17. ^ Artforum. "2011 Guggenheim Fellows Announced," News, April 7, 2011. Retrieved February 2, 2022.