Charles Ross
Charles Ross (b. 1937, Philadelphia, PA) graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. in Mathematics in 1960 and received an M.A. in Fine Arts there in 1962. He has dedicated his life and career to making art that responds conceptually to the effects of light, time, mathematical structures, and the formal and visual potential of phenomena. In 1971 Ross began working on a monumental earthwork titled Star Axis. Located in New Mexico, Star Axis is an architectonic earth/star sculpture constructed with the geometry of the stars. Ross is a 2011 Guggenheim Fellow and recipient of the Andy Warhol Foundation Grant (1999). His works reside in the permanent collections of numerous institutions internationally including the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY. Most recently, Ross’ work has been shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA; Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid, Spain; Ludwig Museum Koblenz, Germany; Palazzo Fortuny, Venice, Italy; and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, as part of the Los Angeles to New York: The Dwan Gallery, 1959 - 1971 exhibition. An installation by Ross will be included in Lumen: The Art and Science of Light at the Getty Center, Los Angeles from September 10–December 8, 2024. Charles Ross is represented by Franklin Parrasch Gallery in New York, NY and Parrasch Heijnen in Los Angeles, CA.
Select Works
Select Exhibitions
Select Press
2024
Straus, Michael. “Charles Ross and Michael Straus.” Brooklyn Rail. September, 2024.
2021
Beachy-Quick, Dan. “Cosmic Dancer.” Artforum. October 28, 2021.
2020
Rizzo, Angie. “Holy Architecture for Earthy Devotion,” Hyperallergic, 28 January 2020.
Beachy-Quick, Dan. “ Charles Ross.” Artforum, December Issue, Print.
Hass, Nancy. “A Land Art Pioneer Adventures in Time and Space.” T: The New York Times Style Magazine, July 21, 2020.
2018
Rawlins, Jarrod. "Interview With Charles Ross.” MoNA (museum of old and new art) blog, May 31, 2018
Hass, Nancy. “What Happens When a Single Art Project Becomes a Decades-Long Obsession.” T: The New York Times Style Magazine, September 18, 2018.
2013
Davidson, Justin. “Artists Race Mortality with Eternal Monuments in Desert,” Bloomberg, 11 September 2013.
2012
Kaiser, Phillipp, and Kwon Miwon. “Ends of the Earth: Art of the Land to 1974” (Prestel: New York and London) for MOCA, Los Angeles. 2012.
2011
Reifenscheld, Beate, ed. “Die Letzte Freiheit / The Last Freedom: From the Pioneers of Land Art in the 1960s to Nature in Cyberspace.” (silvana editoriale: milano) for Ludwig Museum, Deutscherrenhaus, Koblenz. 2011.
Smith, Terry. Contemporary Art: World Currents (London: Laurence King (lkp), and Pearson Prentice-Hall) 2011.
2010
Didi-Huberman, Georges. Atlas. Madrid: Museo Nacional Centro De Arte Reina Sofía, 2010.
2009
König, Kasper, Barbara Engelbach, Friederike Wappler, Hans Winkler, Looking for Mushrooms: Beat Poets, Hippies, Funk, Minimal Art, San Francisco 1955-1968, (catalogue.) (Walther König: Köln) 2009. 154.
Harmon, Katherine. The Map as Art: Contemporary Artists Explore Cartography. New York: Princeton Arch. press, 2009.
2008
Lambert-Beatty, Carrie. “Being Watched, Yvonne Rainer and the 1960's.” Boston: MIT Press, 2008. 62,63,84.
2007
Lailach, Michael. Land Art, (taschen) 2007.
Tufnell, Ben. Land Art, (London: Tate Publishing) 2007.
Dempsey, Amy. Destination Art. Berkeley, Los Angeles: UC Press; London: Thames and Hudson, 2006. 92-95.
2006
Rainer, Yvonne. “Feelings Are Facts: A Life.” Cambridge, London: MIT Press, 2006. 225, 244.
Weintraub, Linda with Skip Schuckmann. “Cycle-Logical Art: Recycling Matters for Eco-Art.” Artnow Publications: Rhinebeck, NY, 2006. 87-93.
Roman, Mathilde. A Propos de Charles Ross – Entretein Avec Loïc Malle. lacritique.org, March 25, 2006
Ross, Charles. “Conversation with Anna Halprin,” October, 2006. video.
Malle. Loïc. “Conversation with Charles Ross,” July, 2006. video.
2005
Photo Essay, “Starry Starry Night.” Architectural Record, October, 2005. 102-109.
Carver, Jon, “Timeline 2005: Charles Ross’ Star Axis.” Art Papers, July / August 2005. 28-33.
2004
Khan, Yasmin, “Graced by Rainbows.” Santa Fe New Mexican, September 17, 2004, b-1, b-4
Boettger, Suzaan. “Behind the Earth Movers.” Art in America, April, 2004. 54-63.
Kostelanetz, Richard. “Soho, the Rise and Fall of an American Artist's Colony, London, New York: Routledge, 2003.171-174.
2002
Christen, Markus. “Star Axis – Ein Monument der Kosmischen Geometrie.” Kunst+Stein, December 6, 2002. 11-15.
Karlin, Susan. “A Sculptor Works Up an Exposé of the Stars’ Secrets.” The New York Times, Arts & Leisure, Sunday November 3, 2002; 21,28.
Kelly, James. The Sculptural Idea. 4th Edition. Waveland Press: lon grove, il 2002. Star Axis on cover.
2000
Martin, Jean-Hubert. Le Chateau d’Oiron et Son Cabinet de Curiosités. Paris: éditions du Patrimoine, 2000, 170-173.
Malle, Loïc. Transparence et Transcendance, in Architectures de Lumiére, eds. Anne-Marie Charbonneaux and Norbert Hillaire. Marvel, 2000. 180-183.
Warr, Tracey. Roden Crater. Contemporary Visual Arts, issue 30, 2000. Star Axis, pg.45.
Fehrenkamp, Ariane. Saitama Prefectural U. Sculpture, April 2000, vol. 19, no. 3, pg. 17.
Ware, Tricia. Edward Ranney: Photo-Eye Gallery, Santa Fe, Santa Fean, Nov-Dec 2000, pg. 55, 88.
Edward Ranney Photographs from the Star Axis Project, The, November 2000, pg. 34 photo.
1999
Linton, Harold. Color in Architecture. Mcgraw-Hill, 1999, 169-173.
Tanaka, Yukito. Introducing Artwork Into the University, Kenchiku Bunka, Vol. 54, No. 633, July, 1999.
Doherty, Brenda. “Star Axis,” New Mexico Magazine (Feb 1999) 40-41. color photos.
1997
Bensley, Lis. “The 48,” The Santa Fe New Mexican, Pasatiempo, June 27- July 3, 1997.
Light Sanctuary, Art in America, April 1997, color photos , 31.
1996
Adlmann, Jan. Contemporary New Mexico Artists: Sketches & Schemas. Craftsman House: Australia, 1996.
Sieglaub, Seth, ed. Charles Ross, Artpress Spécial: 69/96, Avant-Gardes et Fin de Siecle; 75 Artists Reconent Leur Parcours, Hors-Série Numéro 17, 1996.
Rivera, Ray. Let There Be Light, Santa Fe New Mexican, Sunday, June 2, 1996.
1995
Vine, Richard. Charles Ross at Humphrey, Art in America, September 1995.
Oakes, Baile. Sculpting With the Environment, International Thomson Pub., inc., London, 1995.
Tiberghien, Giles. Princeton Architectural Press, Princeton, 1995.
1994
Nanjo, Fumino. Art in the Workplace, SD Monthly Journal of Art and Architecture, June 1994.
Sayre, Henry M. A World of Art, Prentice Hall inc., Englewood, NJ, 1994.
1993
Tiberghien, Giles. Land Art, C. Editions Carre, Paris, 1993
Werkner, Patrick. Star Axis, Diadelos, June 1993; 40-45.
1992
Bizot, Jean Francoise. Le Reenchantement de L'Amerique, actuel, April 1992.
Toikka, Koonnut Antero. Aavikkotaidetta, Taide, April 1992.
Werkner, Patrick. Land Art USA, C. Prestel-Verlag Munich 1992; 123-130.
Conwell, Douglas. Celestial Artwork, New Mexico Magazine, March 1992.
1991
Plevin, Nancy. Earthwork' Aspires to Connect Man to Heavens, (A.P. Wire). Los Angeles Times, Nov.10, 1991.
Munro, Eleanor. Light Revealed, Metropolis, April 1991; 38-41, 54.
Ellis, Simone. Star Axis, Pasatiempo (The New Mexican), Feb.1, 1991.
1988
Serra 15, Point Source Star Space, August/September, 1990. (Italy).
Squibline (cover), Fall, 1988.
Saad-Cook, Janet. with Charles Ross, Nancy Holt, and James Turell: Touching the Sky: Artworks Using Natural Phenomena, Earth, Sky, and Connections to Astronomy, Leonardo, Vol. 21-2, spring 1988, photo.
1987
Gerster, George. Gestures and Creations: Productions and Positions of American Earth Art, Wochenende Neue Zurther Zeigtung, May 9-10, 1987.
Wilson, Malin. Walking Through Rainbows: A New Trip at the San Francisco Airport." San Francisco Examiner, 5-10-87.
1986
Munro, Eleanor. “Art in the Desert.” The New York Times, Sunday, December 7, 1986.
Harper, Hilliard. “New Wells Fargo Sculpture Connects Light and Stars.” Los Angeles Times, May 2, 1986.
Brenson, Michael. “The Lure of the Landscape.” The New York Times, March 9, 1986.
1985
Ross, Charles. “Star Axis.” Whole Earth Review, Winter 1985.
Linton, Harold. “Color Model Environments.” Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., NY, 1985.
Ranney, Edward. Western Spaces: Excavation the Present. Aperture, Spring 1985.
Reid, Dixie. “Stairway to the Stars.” Albuquerque Journal Magazine, Impact, February 5, 1985.
Capasso, Nicholas. “Environmental Art: Strategies for Reorientation in Nature.” arts, january 1985.
1983
Lippard, Lucy. “Overlay: Contemporary Art and the Art of Prehistory.” Pantheon, NY, 1983.
Mcdevitt, Lorelei Heller. “Bringing Light Into Focus.” Designers West, October 1983.
Sky Art Conference '83, (catalogue), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, Sept., 1983.9, 29, 90.
1982
Sakane, Itsuo. “World of Expanding Images - Sanctuary Where the Earth Meets the Sky.” Asahi Shimbun, 9-9-82.
1981
Wilson, Malin. “Santa Fe: Charles Ross at Heydt/Bair.” Artlines, July 1982.
For Spacious Skies, (catalogue), M.I.T., Cambridge, Massachusetts,1981.
Chafee, Katherine Smith. Charles Ross, Artspace, Fall 1981, pp..24-27.
Mid-August 1981; 60-61. Color Photos. (cover).
Sakane, Itsuo. Cosmic Art, Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo, March 27,1981.
1980
Sofaer, Anna. “Sunlight Convergence/Solar Burn.” Archaeoastronomy, Winter, 1980.
Clurman, Irene. “Catch a Rainbow at Spectrum.” Rocky Mountain News, Denver, CO, October 26, 1980; 17.
1979
Keefe, Jeffrey. Artforum, May 1979.
Thalacker, Donald. “The Place of Art in the World of Architecture.” Chelsea House/r.r. Bowker, 1979.
1978
Kuspit, Donald W. “Charles Ross: Light's Measure.” Art in America, March/April 1978.
1977
”A Major Move for Earthwork Art.” San Francisco Examiner, October 28, 1977.
Forgey, Benjamin. “Hirshhorn Gives Us a Glimpse of Faraway Earth Art.” Washington Star, Oct. 30, 1977.
Lewis, Joanne. The Landscape of Art for the '70's.” Washington Post, October 30,1977.
Larson, Kay. “New Landscapes in Art.” New York Times Magazine, May 13,1979.
Horvitz, Robert and Charles Ross. “co-evolution quarterly, winter, 1977-1978; 104-107. photo & illus.
Probing the Earth: Contemporary Land Projects. (catalogue) Hirshhorn Museum, 1977, intro. john beardsley, star axis.
Shapiro, David and Lindsay Stamm. “Charles Ross.” Arts Magazine, June 1977.
1976
Ross, Charles. “Sunlight Convergence/Solar Burn.” University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1976.
The Substance of Light: Sunlight Dispersion, The Solar Burns, Point Source/Star Space, (catalogue), La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla, CA, 1976. Introduction by Susan Tower, essay by Steve Katz.
1973
Ross, Charles. “Solar Burns/Sunlight Convergence.” Arts Magazine, December/January 1973; 48-50, cover.