Interview by Jimon

1-How would you describe Julie Gross?  I’d describe myself as an urban landscape painter, colorist, and a traveler. I would describe myself as an artist chasing after colorful memories of places I’ve traveled to. I am not a complicated person- I think this comes out in my work. The paintings aren’t about creating complexity in the world, they are about removing the complexity and leaving just the basic shapes and colors.

2-Where do you call home currently?  Home for me is in Columbia MD – in between Baltimore and DC.

3-Do you remember the first piece of art you created? How old where you?  I’ve been creating for my whole life. My mom was an art teacher (I am too). I grew up with tons of art materials. I remember being really little and I would make up stories and I would illustrate them with watercolor.

4-Do you have academic training or is it inherent?I’ve always had a love for art, but in high school I didn’t have a clear direction in my work. I went to school at Towson University and studied Art Education. I chose to take painting classes and that really pushed me towards painting. I’ve always surrounded myself with artists who make great critics that help me push my work. They have helped me grow my work in these past thirteen years that I’ve been working on urban landscapes.

5-You paint a lot of landscapes what is the attraction?  There were two things that happened in 2006. I discovered Charles Sheeler and saw his work at a retrospective at the National Gallery. I was (am still am) obsessed with the graphic quality he was able to achieve with paint. His works are photorealistic, but they eliminate the unnecessary details.  I also took a road trip to Toronto in 2006 with a few friends, we drove from Baltimore to Toronto. I took a million pictures on the way there and back. Lots of bridges and roads. As soon as I got home I started painting. The first ones weren’t pretty. I didn’t have any money and I remember having to reuse pieces of painter’s tape. At first it was all about creating photorealistic work. As I developed my style I started simplifying forms and deviating more from the photograph.  I’m attracted to the layers you can see in a city. The first layer is on the surface- maybe a building or two up close. But as you look further back into the distance you see alleys, telephone poles, doorways, and even more buildings in the distance. The depth that you can see in a city is fascinating.

6-Which landscape has been the most inspiring to paint?My favorite place to paint was an apartment building in Marrakech. I traveled to Morocco in 2016 and saw some amazing places. I traveled with someone who was Moroccan and had a lot of business to do while there, so it felt like we were rushing around trying to see as much as possible while he was dealing with his affairs. He had to pick up a car at a parking garage that happened to be by an amazing apartment building. This apartment building is the one place I got to slow down and observe the architecture. I saw this woman walk by in a purple dress and it inspired one of my pieces “Woman in the purple dress.” Morocco is a fascinating place and I recommend traveling there. The narrow streets in Marrakech are something to see.

7-Why the exaggerated colors in your paintings and how do you choose the colors?  Each city or place has its own energy and color palette. For example, I feel like Marrakech is red. Lima Peru is neon, Toronto is blue. Barcelona is yellow for sure. I want to capture the energy of the places in my paintings and to do that you need to know the color palette. However, I do love my neon oil colors and it’s hard to not make everything neon right now. I just love amped up color. It makes me happy to look at it.

8-What is success to Julie Gross as an artist?I have some collectors and I’ve been in some reputable shows, but I see bigger things for my work. I now have gallery representation so I’m excited about that. [District Arts in Frederick Maryland] I’m not 100% sure what success is, but I’m not quite there yet. I’ll let you know when I get there!

9-What advice would you give putative collectors?  Collect work that you love and makes you think. I love collecting pieces that I see something new in every time I look at them. I never try to match art to furniture. I buy my furniture to match the art.

10-Best advice you ever received in regards to your courier as an artist?  Everyone will keep shutting the door on you. Keep knocking. Keep being annoying. Eventually doors will open if you are persistent.

11-Do you have a place/person/thing that you visit for inspiration?  Since my inspiration is from traveling, I just get on a plane when I need to be inspired. Miami is my happy 2 hour flight away from home.

12-If you could have dinner with 3 artists living/dead who would be at your table?Charles Sheeler, Takashi Murakami, Yayoi Kusama.

13-Name three things you can’t live without in your studio?Neon oil paint, white artist tape, my cat Oliver who bothers me when I’m painting.

14-How would someone find you on Social media?My Instagram  @Juliegrosspaintings