BROOKLYN, NY.- Color as Spirit, a retrospective of work by Julie A. Gross, is on view in The Gallery at The Watermark in Brooklyn Heights through January 3, 2027. Curated by Patricia Vinyard, the exhibition features paintings, sculptures, and works on paper from when Julie began her professional art career in the 1970s through 2023. Located at 21 Clark Street, the gallery is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

The 56 pieces in the exhibition range in size from intimate sculptural works of Julie’s 1970s Body Tracing series to large paintings such as Half Paynes, which measures 90 inches wide. Julie used a variety of painting and drawing mediums and surfaces, applying newly learned principles in each successive series, and several of these series and materials are included in the show. The work reveals Julie’s interests – from physics, cosmology, and diverse cultures to the formalistic concerns of making paintings.


Julie A. Gross, Squawn, 1989, Oil on Linen, 24 x 16 inches

“Color as Spirit,” the show’s title, comes from a poetic note found in Julie’s studio. In the note, Julie used sparse words, showing her deep knowledge of color. Each line begins “Color as.” Having taught color theory for decades, Julie knows color’s endless potential to be combined and recombined and to reach our hearts through our eyes. In her later work such as the energetic, perfectly balanced gouache-on-paper work of 2020, Equilibre, Over-Under/Geared-Up, we see a playful delight in her mastery.

In the Body Tracing series from the mid-1970s we get a glimpse of Julie’s early experimentation with form. Side by side in the gallery, we see the progression of forms that arise when she follows ideas and allows them to expand her understanding via light and shadow.

Julie’s heterodox approach to the English language offers us puzzling titles. She plays with words – twisting, changing, and wringing them out – to suit an inner idea that speaks mystery and playfulness to the viewer. The titles expand the work, offering possibilities for interpretation.

This exhibit is grouped roughly in segments that include early work of the 1970s; oil and wax paintings from the 1980s; the Event Horizon series that begins in 1989; the Tango series of the 1990s; her signature work – the Circle series done in both gouache on paper and oil on canvas; and late work from roughly 2016 through 2023. Julie addresses these series and the evolution of her career in her artist statement, which is available in the gallery.

A few unfinished pieces in the exhibition reveal Julie’s processes. Julie has previously stated regarding her Circle series, “Drawing precedes painting in my work,” and we see this on a small scale in Circular Reaction of 2023, the earliest stage of a painted work on panel. Even in its unfinished state – unfinished due to her Parkinson’s-related issues – devoid of spectral color, we see the complexity and beauty of Julie’s vision.

Pirate Pete, a group of three portrait drawings from Julie’s childhood shows similar concerns as she has pursued throughout her career – relationships and tensions among formal visual elements such as color, line, and shape. We can see how she used these elements to express emotional states and contradictions that can plague those who look inside themselves with a hope of understanding and wonder at the complexity of it all.


Julie A. Gross, Hop In 1, Oil on Linen, 60 x 60 Inches

Julie A. Gross, (b. 1943 Montreal) is a New York-based artist who has worked in studios in Soho, Chelsea, and Glen Spey, NY for over five decades. She graduated from Pratt Institute with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (’65), and from Hunter College with a Master of Arts (’74). She was a professor of art at Parsons School of Design, Fashion Institute of Technology, and several other colleges and universities including Rhode Island School of Design. Her teaching career also extended to Seoul, Korea; Kanazawa, Japan; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She has had numerous one- and two-person shows and a multitude of group shows, exhibiting both nationally and internationally. She’s the recipient of National Endowment for the Arts, CAPS, and Pollock/Krasner Foundation grants and has been granted residencies at Yaddo, Macdowell, Ucross, VCCA and others. Her work is held in many corporate and private collections. Julie lives in Brooklyn, NY. https://www.artworkarchive.com/profile/julie-a-gross/portfolio

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