Charles Ross (artist)

Ross was born December 17, 1937 in Philadelphia.[1] He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a BA in mathematics and, after developing a strong interest in art, earned an MA in sculpture from Berkeley in 1962.[3][16] He spent the early years of his career in New York and then San Francisco[1] where, in 1965, he began his longstanding investigation of light with the creation of large-scale prisms that he assembled in his warehouse studio.[8][16][4]

He returned to New York in 1967 and began showing at the historically significant Virginia Dwan Gallery—which was prominent in both the minimalism and land-art movements[17][18]—after being introduced to Dwan by Sol Lewitt, whom critics cite as an influence in Ross's work.[9][16][1] He showed there until 1971 when the gallery closed,[19][20] and continued a professional relationship with Dwan that culminated in their joint 1996 project, the Dwan Light Sanctuary.[21][22] In 1971, Ross began showing at other galleries, including the John Weber Gallery, and conceived his large-scale earthwork project, Star Axis, which is still under construction.[2][1][23] In subsequent years, he showed at Franklin Parrasch in New York and Parrasch Heijnen in Los Angeles.[9][24]

Ross's early work varied in both focus and materials, and included sculpture, environments and collaborations with the experimental Judson Dance Theater and choreographer Anna Halprin.[25][8][24][26] In 1965, he began using acrylic to construct transparent geometric forms of varying shapes that functioned as prisms, his first foray into light-themed work.[8][2] He is considered a forerunner of "prism art," which developed as a sub-tradition within minimalism.[1] Ross showed prism pieces in solo exhibitions at Dilexi Gallery in San Francisco and then at Park Place Gallery in New York, in 1966.[15] His work was exhibited in three solo shows at Dwan Gallery, "Prisms" (1968), "Prisms" (1969), and "Sunlight Dispersion" (1971), of increasing complexity.[16][27][19][28] Earlier prisms were variations on cubes and described as "ascetic," while—for example—the 1969 show included a large, pentagonal piece called Coffin (1968) that was human-sized and filled with liquid.[1][27]

Ross's later work with prisms spread white light into the solar spectrum creating a dynamic interaction between prisms, the sun's movement across the sky, and viewers, for example in the Dwan Light Sanctuary (1996).[21][22] The sanctuary is a structural artwork located in Montezuma, New Mexico on the campus of the United World College, a collaboration with Virginia Dwan and architect Laban Wingert.[9][21][22] It is a circular structure with an open interior and a ceiling that is twenty-three feet in height.[22][21] It features design elements that echo traditional religious architecture, but was conceived by Dwan as a secular space and contains no specific symbology.[21][1] Ross contributed solar spectrum artwork in the form of strategically placed window prisms—which cast rainbows that move around the room's circular walls propelled by the turning of the earth—as well as astronomical design elements such as the building's alignment.[9][21]

In the 1970s, Ross began exploring two new bodies of work—his "solar burns" drawings and an earthwork.[2][10][6] Beginning on the autumnal equinox of 1971, he recorded a year's worth of daily solar burns on planks of wood, created by sunlight passing through a large lens carefully positioned for the purpose.[29] Each day's burn mark was recorded on a separate, fire-treated plank and reflected variations in daily weather patterns, as well as day length and other factors related to the orientation of the Earth's axis in time.[2][6][24] He titled the work Sunlight Convergence/Solar Burn: The Equinoctial Year, September 23, 1971–September 22, 1972 and showed it in a solo exhibition at John Weber Gallery.[29][15]

Also in 1971, Ross conceived of his large-scale earthwork project, Star Axis, an architectonic sculpture and naked-eye observatory situated on the eastern plains of New Mexico.[30][23][9] The sculpture is complex and massive, about eleven stories high, and comprised mainly of granite and sandstone.[3][31][5] Architectural chambers and apertures frame the changing view of visitors as they ascend a long stairway toward a circular opening at the top.[5][9] The sculpture and its views are carefully constructed to align with astrological phenomena such as the North Star and the vernal equinox sunrise, echoing ancient structures that are also aligned to astronomical phenomena.[7][3][23][32] The Star Tunnel is the central element of Star Axis. It is precisely aligned with the Earth's axis and frames the Polaris North Star.[33] Construction on Star Axis, begun in 1976, is ongoing and in 2020 was reported to be near completion.[31][4][9]

In the 1980s, Ross introduced a new body of work that involved creating drawings through the use of exploding pigments. The work employed dynamite prima cord, fuses and powdered pigments.[24][3] He has produced numerous permanent, site-specific solar spectrum commissions, including works for the cities of Chicago, San Diego and San Francisco, the Harvard Business School Chapel, and the National Museum of the American Indian.[34][35][36][15] Ross was included in the 2015 film Troublemakers: The Story of Land Art.[37][38]

Critics note in Ross's works the juxtaposition of aesthetic and conceptual appeal with the immediacy of the natural forces they record and display.[1][4] Ross himself sees his art as an "instrument of perception."[3]

• McEvilley, Thomas. "Charles Ross: Following the North Star," Charles Ross: the Substance of Light, Santa Fe, NM: Radius Books, 2012
• Ottmann, Klaus. "Lightness of Being: The Art of Charles Ross," Charles Ross: the Substance of Light, Santa Fe, NM: Radius Books, 2012
• Martin, Jean-Hubert. Le Chateau d' Oiron et son Cabinet de Curiosités, Paris: Éditions du Patrimoine, 2000, p. 170-3.

• Charles Ross website
• Star Axis website

External image
Star Axis project