March 15, 2006

This month’s conversation with Douglas Ross. In his artwork, Ross embraces technology, both low and high with equal affection, in humorous and profoundly evocative ways. From harmonizing with washing machines, refrigerators and airconditioners, to creating an outdoor LED screen that reads realtime library book checkout selections, Ross’s work evinces a dry but poetic wit that is deceptively complex and questions what is is to be human in contemporary technicized world.

DOUGLAS ROSS was born in Brockton, Massachusetts in 1969 and currently lives in New York City. He earned his B.F.A. from Parson School of Design and New School University and his M.F.A. from The School of Visual Arts. Between 1998 and 2002 Ross was awarded fellowships from the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Socrates Sculpture Park and the Asian Cultural Council. In 1999 Artist Janine Antoni chose Ross for Exit Art’s Choice ‘99 exhibition. Since 1993 Ross has participated in numerous group exhibitions at venues including CareOf, Milan, Italy (Cinque pezzi da NY), SculptureCenter, L.I.C., NY(Interval), The Bronx Museum of the Arts, The Walker Art Center, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art and Museum Villa Stuck Munich (One Planet Under A Groove: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art), The Rotterdam Film Festival (LISTENvideo program), P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center (Listening to NewVoices) and was an invited contributor to the RadioArteMobile/Zerynthia Internet radio project for “Utopia Station”, 50th Venice Biennale. From 2002 to 2004 Ross’ work was included in the extensively traveled Walk Ways, an Independent Curators International exhibition that examined walking as a medium and process in art over the past quarter century. Ross has been awarded studio residencies by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (World Views program), PS1 Contemporary Art Center/MoMA(International Studio Program) and ARCUS Project (Moriya City, Ibaraki, Japan), amongst others. His essay on the work of artist Inhwan Oh, “Fixed, Fugitive, Idiomatic” was published in Seoul, Korea in 2002 and from 2004 to 2005 he was the guest professor in TheDepartment of Musical Creativity and the Environment at Tokyo National University of Fine Art and Music.