Michael Gross, based in Bethesda, Maryland, just outside of Washington, DC, was a corporate attorney by day and a highly-regarded painter and printmaker by night. Indeed, few full-time artists have the good fortune of achieving the success that Gross has found. (In that regard, he is quite like his close neighbor, James F. Hilleary, a successful architect by day and acclaimed Color School artist by night.)
Gross aims to create expressive and emotion-filled works using a kaleidoscope of color and to create order from chaos. His lyrical compositions of concatenated lines, textured surfaces, and rich hues evoke Abstract Expressionism and pay homage to the artists who inspire him, particularly Willem de Kooning, Richard Diebenkorn, and Jackson Pollock. His work is devoid of social or political commentary and ideological reference; it offers instead an intellectual dialogue on the beauty of abstraction. His vernacular is steeped in a spectrum of color and intensely focused compositions.
Gross has exhibited widely, with solo shows at Washington’s Kathleen Ewing Gallery, the Edison Place Gallery, Gallery B, and the Katzen Arts Center at American University. He has participated in numerous group shows all around the world.
