MARC ROSS
Gallery Exclusive for Washington
Ross creates paintings that combine two visual concepts. When viewed from some distance his canvases have a soft, luminous, atmospheric glow obscuring surface detail, but when a viewer approaches the canvas for closer inspection, its phosphorescent effect retreats into the surface revealing the many subtle, intricate details that comprise the whole. Surfaces are built up using a variety of acrylic media, including iridescent and interference colors, applied in translucent to almost transparent layers. Marc often draws on the canvas between paint applications using pastels, pencils and color pencils to affect the overall image and to shift color values. Some paint layers are scraped into with sponges, sticks or fingers. An electric sander is used to smooth out any build-up of texture and to bring forward colors and patterns obscured in previous layers. Each application of paint is lapped over the side of the canvas leaving a visual memory map of the process for those who are willing to look around the ragged edges. In this way, he emphasizes that the surface is an illusion of nothing more than paint. Ross’s most recent paintings incorporate an internalized frame showing the progression of preceding color layers early in the life of the painting, an important continuation of his desire to leave exposed portions of the painting process. Ross perceives each finished painting as a metaphor for the layers of life’s experiences we encounter as we age. As the Talking Heads questioned in their song, “Once in a Lifetime,” Well, how did I get here?
Education
Ohio University, Athens, OH:
Bachelor of Fine Arts
University of Chicago, Chicago, IL:
Master of Fine Arts Program
Kent State University, Kent, OH:
Master of Fine Arts
Ashland University, Columbus, OH:
Master of Arts Education
Artists Studied Under
Dennis Adams
Vera Kelment
Ron Kroutel
Dana Loomis
Craig Lucas
Gary Pettigrew
Harold Rosenberg
Museum Collection
The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown
Collections
Farrow & Wren Interiors
Gardner Inc.
Hilton Hotel, Cleveland
Hilton Hotel, Columbus
Micro Center
Queensland Investment Corp.
Skilken Inc.
Suburban Steel
The Snavely Group
Thompson Hine LLP
Zinc Insurance Co.
Body of Work
2000-current: Luminous Meditations (available)