James ROSS

James Ross
The Red Studio – Small paintings and sculpture 1982-2006
Curated by Luke Smythe
9/02-2/03/2007 The Gus Fisher Gallery

10/02/2007
Despite the un-popularity of people attending the artist’s talk to this exhibition, I nevertheless hold an opinion that this is a rather worth-seeing painting show. For that this exhibition is simple, well-installed, and the selection of work was good – it gives a clear idea of the artist’s practice in painting-sculptures, or sculptural-paintings. In an exhibition space no bigger than your living room, and full of bloody red on the walls – there is however relaxing ambiance in the room in which all the paintings set quietly. And one next to another, they vaguely tell a 20-year long process of the practices of their creator.

Vaguely as it may have seem, catalogues provided in the gallery explained everything.. and probably even more than what the general public needed to read about 10-ish paintings in an exhibition. Ross himself did go on a detailed talk on each painting – I arrived late but was impressed to see his explaining to only one person attentively.

What I liked most about this show was its clarity and simplicity – one of the exemplary exhibitions to take your friends to see and have a (nearly) purely objective discussion afterwards. His use of colours, shapes of supports and materials used, incorporation of objects and forms, his 2D and 3D definitions to presentation, etc. Clockwise in the room we could see the gradual change of colours from dark red to orangy red; creating dimensions by painting on irregular supports, or by cutting or building up impastos. The last piece in the gallery that was installed standing out from the wall acted as such a foreign object and had me wonder leaving the room.

“So, it was a painting show.. EH!”

13/02/2007 SH 1023