Always Different, Always The Same by Mike Ross

Always Different, Always the Same
Solo Exhibition by Mike Ross

July 3 - August 24, 2024 

Opening Reception: July 11, from 5pm - 7pm

Artist Bio
Mike Ross is an artist, muralist and curator, working out of 333 Midland Studios and the Annex Gallery since 2014. His work is full of gradient pattern and color suggesting structure coexisting with chaos. He cites the classical Indian musical form of the Raga as an inspiration, with its defined framework and interior improvisation that speaks simultaneously to the present moment and the eternal. Ross graduated from Oakland University in 2003, majoring in Anthropology with a minor in Studio Art.
Recent Notable Exhibitions: Heart & Soul, small group exhibition at Black Box Gallery in Dearborn, MI SHAAAPES, small group exhibition at the Annex Gallery, Highland Park M Solo exhibition: I Thought I’d Be Dead, Disco Walls Gallery, Hamtramck MI Solo Exhibition: the trees are almost green, at the Annex Gallery, Highland Park Heidelberg Project Gallery, curated by James H. Dozier.

Artist Statement
My work deals extensively with gradients of color, light and pattern, with the idea of creating an interior reality which may include landscape, the figure, and/or portraiture. As I paint, I allow the patterns (and thus the overall piece) to evolve into the forms it will take. In this way it has a very organic but also very clean and tight feel about it; to me, this combination of mannered pattern with organic improvisation/evolution gives a sense of peace, calm, and overall well-being. While I work, I love to incorporate the intangible sense of the space in which I am working, with the resulting piece having a sense of “belonging” to the space.
In my latest series of work, I'm working on highlighting the beauty of the medium itself - paint for paints' sake - and the plane on which it's situated. In applying the paint in thick, rich strokes, and in creating canvases with odd or unusual shapes, attention is called to the plasticity of the very act of painting. This highlights the multitude of ways in which it can be perceived through its manipulation (by the artist) and by what the viewer brings to the experience of viewing art. I guess you could say in this latest series that I'm striving for a "pure" art experience, both for myself as artist and for the viewer.