Thom Ross New Work 2018

THOM RO S S

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September 24 – October 6, 2018 Jackson Hole Artist Reception | September 27 | 5:30–7:30pm

THOM RO S S New Work

Jackson Hole | Scottsdale | AltamiraArt.com

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Breaking Bad Watercolor on paper | 10 x 12 inches Enquire

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New Work Thom Ross paints from the complexity of the Wild West. Through the freeze that finds most people blind to the layers of history. His compositions hold lived contradictions tight and true, never resolved as they so often appear in romanticized reflection. His heroes are real and fallible, weighted by conflict and complicity. For Ross, history is defined by those figures whose actions transcend reality to become mythical. Like the infamous characters involved in the Black Sox Scandal of 1919. By his hand, no one comes out clean: not the eight players for the Chicago White Sox who took bribes to throw the World Series; not the gamblers and the sportswriters who fed the frenzy; not the owners who ignored grievances.

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When a topic grabs hold of him, he researches widely and deeply—as he has done with the Black Sox. Over the course of nine months, he’s read voraciously, some 30 fiction and nonfiction books on the subject. He’s drawn incessantly, not only the players themselves but the judges and juries and even their wives. And he’s questioned constantly: Why does the story continue to fascinate? What is the through line that makes it resonant today?

The answer: There’s more to such stories than the material. There’s space for him as an artist to articulate truths. To comment and critique. His is a realm of metaphors and allegories, symbols and signs. A realm he shares with the likes of Herman Melville. A realm more immense than the slick scrim often found onscreen and in print.

His paintings make his inquiry feel contagious. Confronted by his “Custer’s Last Stand; After Becker,” the viewer must consider the representational lineage preceding this painting—the mythical undertones that have inflated a minor fight into a battle of ancient and Biblical proportions. At many points in history, minor skirmishes have become massive metaphors of heroism. And yet, in modern conversation, the name of Custer incites insults not insight into why his fame remains eternal. An educational opportunity shuttered by dismissiveness.

Ross’s paintings are the dramatic foil to such unexamined reactions: “I try through my art to address the meaning of people and events of the Wild West in terms of their mythic importance which is way more important and powerful than the reality.”

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Sitting Bull Signing Autographs Mixed media | 14 x 10.5 inches Enquire

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Into the Myth Watercolor on paper | 13.5 x 19 inches Enquire

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Red Walker Mixed media-watercolor and ink | 12 x 10 inches Enquire

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Rain in the Face Watercolor on paper | 9.5 x 11 inches Enquire

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Burial at Sea Watercolor on paper | 24 x 18 inches Enquire

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NEMO 1934 Watercolor on paper | 13 x 19 inches Enquire

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Shane Watercolor on paper | 13.5 x 12 inches Enquire

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Red Scarf Mixed media | 11 x 11 inches Enquire

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The Whiskey Drinker Mixed media | 11 x 11 inches Enquire

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172 Center Street | Jackson, Wyoming 83001 AltamiraArt.com | 307-739-4700

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