Jerry Ross Biography:
Biographical information for Jerry Ross can be found below. The artist may choose what information to display. Sometimes the artist chooses not to display personal information to the general public.
Age
|
68
|
| |
| Gender |
Male
|
| |
| Status |
Married
|
| |
| Children |
1
|
| |
| Religion |
Taoist |
| |
| Education |
Graduate Degree |
| |
| Hobbies / Interests |
Italy |
| |
| Favorite Artistic Medium |
Painting Oil
|
| |
| Favorite Arthistory Movement |
Florentine School - (1400 - 1600)
|
| |
| Favorite Visual Artist |
Umberto Coromaldi
|
| |
| Favorite Work of Art |
Camicie rosse, 1898 by Coromaldi
|
| |
| Biggest Artistic Inspiration |
I Macchiaioli -- pre-impressionist movement in Italy 1850's which had qualities of "post-impressionist" (a deeper more profound impressionism) even though chronologically before French (Parisian) impressionism. Also verism in painting (See l' artisti Studente) in Roma. Caravaggio, Titian, Veronese, Cezanne, the early Picasso, many...my muse, my wife Angela, whose beauty and Venusian spirit has inspired many paintings. |
| |
| Why Did You Become An Artist |
Who knows? I was very fortunate as a child to have my talent discovered and nourished by my loving mother, Jeanette, a father, Sidney, who was willing to buy me an oil painting set, by good teachers who took an interest. Somehow the desire was within but it was never extinguished completely by negative aspects of public education. When inactive, it continued to develop, unseen, until it broke out much stronger in young adulthood.
|
| |
| Your Personal Biography |
I was born in 1944 (Buffalo). The family moved to the suburbs (Kenmore and the town of Tonawanda, New York). An art teacher recognized my talent and recommended that I be enrolled at the weekend classes of the Art Institute of Buffalo, which I attended from age seven until age eleven.
Following high school I studied in pre-med and later math and philosophy at the University of Buffalo (SUNY Buffalo). I was involved in college anti-war activities and in civil rights struggles within Buffalo. I was granted a B.A. in philosophy in 1968, taught high school math in the area. Later, I moved to Eugene, Oregon and attended the University if Oregron getting my MA in Interdisciplinary Studies. I returned to painting on my own in my early thirties.
I attempt in my painting to imbue nature and humanity with a sense of poetry and nobility and give expression to some implied utopian vision. Inspired by the Italian I Macchiaioli and the democratic ideals of the Risorgimento, my work often has Italian subject matter or themes.
I met my wife Angela Czyzewski at Ken Kesey's Poetic Hoohaw in Eugene during the summer of 1977. My marriage to my first wife, Pamela Fore Tyree, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, ended in divorce. Pamela died in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2008.
Recognized as a painter with vision and facility in a variety of painting styles, I was identified as “one of a handful of truly mature artists inhabiting the artistic landscape of Eugene”, Oregon, where I have worked for over 25 years.(Keefer 2001, Eugene Register-Guard, pp. 1–2B).
Another observer described me as a 'master of portraiture.' I have painted several portraits of my wife. One, entitled “Arrivo a Bologna”, which was considered one of my best: 'subtle, tender, suggestive, spare in composition and palette.' (Pederson 2005, Eugene Weekly, p. 29).Another, “Angela A go-go” was well received.
In Oregon, I have created a home base where I continue to perfect my technique.
I founded the “Club Macchia” of artists working all’aperto (in plein air) inspired by I Macchiaioli teachings. I give workshops in the area on portraiture, landscape, and figurative painting.
Travels to Italy and Awards
Since 1991 my wife and I have been traveling in Italy. I have had significant exhibits there in Milan, Florence, Bologna, and Rome.
In 2010, I spent three weeks as a visiting scholar/artist at the American Academy in Rome. Recently, we spent time in Puglia and Sicily visiting anti-mafia writers and artists in western Sicily.
In 2013, we will again be staying at the American Academy conducting additional research for a book I am writing on gesture and calligraphic brushwork in painting.
Note:I first showed in Italy in 1999 with an exhibition at the American Consulate in Milan, Italy. This was followed by a second show at the Consulate in 2000 and two more shows in Italy that year (Cafe Cabiria, Florence, Italy in Piazza S. Spirito and at the Municipio of the Comune di Loiano ((Bologna)).
In 2001, I had a solo show in Rome at the prestigious Galleria d'Arte La Borgognona. I was also awarded a gold medal in a painting competition in Corsico, near Milan, along with an invitation to exhibit there in May, 2006.
I am updating this bio from Umbria where I am painting in the countryside and making preparations for an exhibit to aid the earthquake victims of L'Aquila.
|
| |
| |
| Artist Statement |
Manifesto of American Verismo
By Jerry Ross, 2012
"American verismo", a movement that I have recently founded, is a catch-all phrase for an artistic style that draws its main inspiration from Italian art, both classical and modern.
There is an implied nostalgia for work done “dal vero” (after life) whether classical (Raphael, Rubens, or Caravaggio, etc.) or 19th century (the Tuscan I Macchiaioli school) or more contemporary.
Verismo is somewhat akin to contemporary “atelier realism” but the latter has been criticized for an academic uniformity and its over attention to details.
American verismo is more poetic and linked to post-impressionism, the Milan-based Scapigliatura (‘wild hair’) movement, and the I Machiaioli’s commitment to social issues.
But like atelier realism, American verismo is associated with a painterly sketching style, use of broad brushstrokes, and the alla prima, “direct attack” technique of painting.
It is also linked to all'aperto (open air) impressionist-style landscape painting. In short, to pleinairism which has become widely popular in recent years.
I first introduced the term during several classes he taught at the Maude Kerns Art Center in Eugene and then later at the "Angels Fight Road Art Center" plein air retreat up the McKenzie River (Oregon) during the summers of 2010 and 2011.
A “social verismo” aspect of the style is political and makes comments on society and often depicts scenes with political or moral narratives.
In “verismo” there is also the belief in the importance of making sketch studies from old master paintings and sculptures. As a result many of my paintings are "comments" on old master works. I am fond of Rubens, Rembrandt, Caravaggio, and Raphael for this purpose,
In addition, the principle of abstraction is important in this approach to painting, and, in fact, abstraction is evident in verismo work. Some of my work gets minimalist and the abstraction levels are high without apology. |
| |
|
