October 8, 2021 - January 2, 2022
A major survey of one of the world’s preeminent multimedia artists, Clifford Ross.
Clifford Ross (United States, born 1952) Hurricane II, 2000, archival pigment print on Japanese-style Gampi paper, 15 1/8 x 19 1/4 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Ryan Lee Gallery © Clifford Ross
American artist Clifford Ross is steeped in the traditions of modernism across a range of media, but his photographic and video practices over the past 30 years reveal one of the most incisive and technically sophisticated investigations into the nature of vision in the medium’s history. His art is characterized by relentless inventiveness and iteration; Ross explores the expressive possibilities of his subjects through newly created media, working at a variety of different scales. Viewers of his work might find themselves immersed in waves from a hurricane, printed with incredible resolution on 12-foot-tall panels of maple-veneered plywood or depicted as digital pixels crashing across enormous LED screens.
Sightlines, the first major exhibition of Ross’ work in Maine, explores this relentless exploration of the natural world, prompting audiences to engage with the vitality and wonder of nature itself in an era of global climate change, as well as to reconsider the condition of the photograph. It showcases the range and depth of his photographs by presenting the inexhaustible variety of visual experiences he has created within his two primary subjects—a single mountain in Colorado, and hurricane-generated waves breaking along the coast of Long Island—demonstrating his capacity to convey creative energy through sustained looking at this limited number of subjects, and even through a limited number of source images.
Light Waves IV, 2019, computer-generated video on LED wall, 96 x 48 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Ryan Lee Gallery © Clifford Ross
Ross uses his defined set of motifs to generate a large series of artwork across multiple media, each with a different and distinct character. Indeed, he has pushed the technical limitations of his chosen media to fundamentally new places, including through the invention of new technologies to achieve his vision, as with the case of his R1 camera. The exhibition promises to buoy viewers’ wonder at the experience of art and nature, helping them to reconnect with the instinct to want to “see more,” or “see more deeply.”
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Individual support
Ed and Sarah Baker
Anne and Alexander Buck
Christopher and Elizabeth Hunt
Karen L. McDonald
Christopher Zook and Donna Jean Robinson
Corporate Support
This exhibition supports Sustainability
The PMA is committed to sustainability and prioritizing thoughtful stewardship of the Earth’s resources in all we do.
This exhibition is funded in part by King Philanthropies.
Individual Support
Ed and Sarah Baker
Anne and Alexander Buck
Thomas and Kate Cheney Chappell
Patricia H. Dodd
Eileen Gillespie and Timothy Fahey
Cyrus Hagge
Douglas and Sharyn Howell
Christopher and Elizabeth Hunt
Bree LaCasse and Chris Moore
Robert and Jill Nesher
Amy Woodhouse and Tobey Scott
Christopher Zook and Donna Jean Robinson
Foundation Support
Anonymous
Corporate Sponsors
Holiday Inn by the Bay
Media Sponsor
Special thanks to Mary Ryan, of the RYAN LEE Gallery.