Clifford Ross (born October 15, 1952) is an American artist who has worked in multiple forms of media, including sculpture, painting, photography and video.
The black and white images in the series depict large-scale ocean waves shot by Ross while in the tumultuous surf, often up to his chest, and tethered to an assistant on land.
In 2005, he designed and built the R2 360 degree video camera[7] and the i3 Digital Cyclorama with Bran Ferren and other imaging scientists at Applied Minds, Inc.[8] Ross's artistic output is defined by an ongoing embrace of realism and abstraction.
Ross has described this process stating, "I can never quite reach the essence of my subject with a camera, so my artistic cycle shifts to a wide range of media and strategies, moving from realism to abstraction.
"[9] Ross's more recent collaborations include Harmonium Mountain I with an original score by Philip Glass, a site-specific, multi-screen production with the Orchestra of St. Luke's at Celebrate Brooklyn!,[10] a multimedia installation in Beijing with Pan Gongkai, President of the Central Academy of Fine Arts,[11] and a 3.5 ton, 28' x 28' stained glass wall with Franz Mayer of Munich, and architects Mack Scogin and Merrill Elam for the U.S. Federal Courthouse in Austin, Texas.
In order to explore the landscapes that served as inspiration for his painting and sculptural works, Ross often took photographic studies, at times even using them as collaged elements to create imaginary scenes.
[24] This technical endeavor was developed in the service of Ross's artistic motivation–to reveal the immensity of his subject, its ever changing light, and its astonishing number of details, all contributing to his experience of the sublime.
The short video known as Harmonium Mountain I, with an original score by Philip Glass, premiered at the Site Santa Fe International Biennial in 2010.
In 2012, Ross collaborated with Chinese musician and composer Wu Tong on Harmonium Mountain II, which had its world premiere at China's Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing in November of that year.
[28] In 2012, Ross was commissioned to execute a public art project for the newly built United States Courthouse in Austin, Texas, designed by Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects for the General Services Administration.
It was executed in conjunction with Franz Mayer & Co. of Munich, with whom Ross worked to combine centuries old stained glass techniques with 21st-century digital technology.
[30] Throughout the process, including hand-selecting trees in the Midwest and developing a deep sensitivity to the wood grain, their physicality transformed the works into something beyond photography.
[34] The Digital Waves are completely computer generated, utilizing special algorithms to capture the unique movements and lyrical qualities of the sea, and although abstract, they reference the real world.
He is a member of the Yale School of Art Dean's Advisory Board, which includes artists Chuck Close, Richard Serra, Byron Kim, and Sheila Hicks.