Jerry Ross (painter)
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Jerry Ross (May 11, 1944) is an American painter whose work is highly influenced by the Italian I Macchiaioli and verismo schools of art.
He was born Gerald Gross to second generation parents, Sidney and Jeanette Gross, in Buffalo, New York. The family moved to the suburbs (Kenmore and the Town of Tonawanda, New York). An art teacher recognized his talent and recommended that he be enrolled at the Albright Art School in Buffalo which he attended from age nine until age eleven. Jerry was a prime influence on his younger sister, Diane (Diane Bush) who became an artist, and later a fine art photographer.
Following High School he studied at State University of New York at Buffalo. He became an activist opposed to the Vietnam War (he was one of "the Buffalo Nine") and worked on behalf of political prisoners (Martin Sostre). After graduation he moved to Arizona and changed his surname to Ross. He then moved to Oregon where he met his second wife Angela Czyzewski at Ken Kesey's Poetic Hoohaw in Eugene the summer of 1977.
Later, Jerry was juried into the New Zone Art Collective and helped to found the Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts (DIVA).
As an arts activist in Eugene, Oregon, Ross founded the popular Salon des Refuses art show. He won many local awards for his paintings including Mayor's Art show awards for "La Mamma: Portrait of Stephania Mastrocinque" and "Vedova di Guerra: War Widow." Ross and his wife Angela traveled frequently to Italy which became a source of inspiration for many works. While in Italy, he came under the influence of the I Macchiaioli movement (Tuscany).
Ross' painting career began to take off in 1999 with an exhibit 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 Comune di Loiano, Loiano (Bologna)). In 2001 Ross had a one-man show in Rome at the prestigious Galleria d'Arte La Borgognona.
Ross' painting style has been influenced by abstract expressionism, namely de Kooning and Richard Diebenkorn. This shows in his bold use of color and expressive, experimental handling of pigment. His painterly style utilizes a technique borrowed from Francis Bacon (mild distortions) but, as seen in the Portrait of Carlo Bianchi, also referencing photography and computer imagery. He has also been influenced by Umberto Coromaldi (Rome 1870-1948) and Telemaco Signorini (Florence,1835/1901).
In 2006, he had a show at Rastignano, Italy -- "Colori d'Europa", La loggia della Fornace (Bologna), at the Comune di Corsico (Milano), and Comune di Loiano Sala Fantazzini di Loiano (near Bologna). The show for the Comune di Corsico resulted from a painting competition which Ross won in 2005.
The Milan jurors wrote that Ross's work represented "un naturalismo di matrice novecentesca ed un cromatismo tonale di forte effetto plastico costruiscono un'atmosfera compostamente poetica" ("a sort of naturalism founded upon a twentieth century matrix and a tonal type of chromatism with a strong, sculptural effect to construct a composed, poetic atmosphere."
