Please Chase Me

acrylic, enamel, tape, and ink on wood

85" x 26" x 16" 

2016

acrylic on wood

50 panels, each 24" x 21 1/2"

2016-17

At 50 years old, the artist sends 50 love letters to the citizens of Rockford, Illinois.

For the site-specific, multi-part, and multi-location project/sculpture, FEELIN LUCKY (from one survivor to another), Joel Ross made a series of 50 nearly identical paintings on wood panels, including the one on exhibit here. Beginning three weeks before the RAM show opened on Oct 7, 2016, Ross and his agents started leaving the paintings in various locations around the city. The 24 by 21.5-inch panels, marked ‘free, please take’ on the back, were left leaning against fences, walls, and posts. They were sometimes propped up with stones, sand bags, blocks, or anything else that could be used from the parkway, vacant lots, and alleyways of the city’s river corridor. These drops are made at the roadside, along sidewalks, and in alleys and will continue until the close of the show on January 29, 2017.

A survivor of lymphoma whose cancer is in remission, the artist and his agents will distribute paintings throughout several Rockford neighborhoods (see the list of drop locations). Ross views the action as a sequence of gifts and values every interaction the piece has with members of the public—including those who take him up on the offer and bring the paintings home, to those who never stop but only see the signs from a short glance while passing by on the way to work or school. When the project is complete, this last painting, the fiftieth and final love letter in the series, will be donated to the collection of the Rockford Art Museum in honor of survivors everywhere.

acrylic and plaster on wood, shims

dimensions variable

2016

installation and process views at Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, Illinois

acrylic and ink on wood

66" x 60" x 7"

2016

acrylic on wood

50" x 41" x 15" 

2016

acrylic, plaster, and ink on wood

34" x 57" x 3"

2016

acrylic paint and ink on wood

40 1/2" x 53 1/2" x  6 1/2"

2016

acrylic paint on wood

61" x 49" x 7"

2016

acrylic and enamel on wood

32 1/4" x 42" x 3 1/2"

2016

acrylic and ink on wood

48 1/2" x 43 1/2" x 6 1/4" 

2016

2015

paint, wood, tape, pine blocks

66" x 48" x 17"

paint, wood, plastic, and metal

2015

installation views from the exhibition, Sinking Feeling (curated by Jason Judd at DEMO Project, Springfield, IL)

Photos: Brytton Bjorngaard

THE EVER, a series of site-specific works installed on public bus benches throughout Chicago's Wicker Park/Bucktown neighborhood from September 1 through November 30, 2015, was shown as an off the wall mmg project made possible with generous support from the Wicker Park/Bucktown Special Service Area #33.  

THE BIGGEST THING YOU EVER TRIED TO HIDE

installed at Ashland and LeMoyne

THE FUNNIEST THING YOU EVER HEARD

installed at Milwaukee and Moffat

THE HEAVIEST THING YOU EVER TRIED TO MOVE

installed at Western and Wabansia

THE MOST OFFENSIVE IMAGE YOU EVER SAW

installed at Western and Belden

THE ONE PLACE NO ONE WOULD EVER LOOK

installed at Damen and Leavitt

THE LONGEST YOU EVER HELD YOUR BREATH

installed at Western and Wabansia

enamel paint on wood

11 1/2 x 70 x 3/4" each

2010

(Installed and Abandoned, Champaign County, IL)

archival pigment print

40 x 60"

2012

in collaboration with Jason Creps

wood, metal, paint

48 x 48 x 62"

2013

in collaboration with Jason Creps

wood, cardboard

19 x 13 x 46"

2013

in collaboration with Jason Creps

wood, paint, metal, cement, vinyl

45 x 40 x 15"

2013

wood, paint

individual panels: 15 x 10 x7"

installation dimensions variable

2013

channel letter sign

48 x 84 x 9"

Installation view at OK Mountain, Austin, TX

2013

(Installed and Abandoned, Chicago, IL)

in collaboration with Jason Creps

archival pigment print

55 x 80"

2012

wood, paint, glitter

35 x 30 x 1"

2012

(Installed and Abandoned, Champaign, IL)

in collaboration with Jason Creps

archival pigment print

56 x 80"

2012

(Installed and Abandoned, Bradley, IL)

in collaboration with Jason Creps

archival pigment print

42 x 55"

2012

(Installed and Abandoned, Chicago, IL)

in collaboration with Jason Creps

archival pigment print

48 x 61"

2012

(Installed and Abandoned, Will County, IL)

in collaboration with Jason Creps

archival pigment print

55 x 45"

2012

(Installed and Abandoned, Chicago, IL)

in collaboration with Jason Creps

archival pigment print

55 x 43"

2012

(Installed and Abandoned, Chicago, IL)

in collaboration with Jason Creps

archival pigment print

48 x 69"

2012

(Installed and Abandoned, Tilton, IL)

in collaboration with Jason Creps

archival pigment print

59 x 80"

2012

(Installed and Abandoned, Urbana, IL)

in collaboration with Jason Creps

archival pigment print

55 x 80"

2012

(Installed and Abandoned, Champaign, IL)

in collaboration with Jason Creps

archival pigment print

55 x 80"

2012

(Installed and Abandoned, Bradley, IL)

in collaboration with Jason Creps

archival pigment print

48 x 68"

2012

(Installed and Abandoned, Chicago, IL)

in collaboration with Jason Creps

archival pigment print

47 x 65"

2012

(Installed and Abandoned, Champaign, IL)

in collaboration with Jason Creps

archival pigment print

45 x 55"

2012

For Gil Scott-Heron

(Installed and Abandoned, Ford County, IL)

archival pigment print

52 x 68"

2010

(Installed and Abandoned, Ford County, IL)

archival pigment print

54 x 73"

2010

(Installed and Abandoned, Champaign County, IL)

archival pigment print

54 x 73"

2010

(Installed and Abandoned, Champaign County, IL)

archival pigment print

50 x 65"

2010

(Installed and Abandoned, Piatt County, IL)

archival pigment print

50 x 65" overall

2010

(Installed and Abandoned, Champaign, IL)

archival pigment print

52 x 68"

2009

(Installed and Abandoned, Ford County, IL)

archival pigment print

54 x 73"

2009

enamel on wood with strobe lights

130 x 91 1/2 x 15 1/2"

2009

(Installed and Abandoned, Champaign County, IL)

archival pigment print

48 1/2 x 56"

2009

(Installed and Abandoned, Champaign County, IL)

archival pigment print

48 x 49"

2009

(Installed and Abandoned, Champaign County, IL)

archival pigment print

55 x 80"

2008

(Installed and Abandoned, Ludlow, IL)

archival pigment print

40 x 65"

2008

altered found sign, fake greenery, spotlight

25 x 15 x 7'

2008

(Installed and Abandoned, Rantoul, IL)

archival pigment print

54 x 73"

2008

archival pigment print, ink on paper

diptych, 11 x 24 1/2"

2008

archival pigment print

40 x 70"

2007

archival pigment print

10 x 10 1/2"

2007

archival pigment print

8 x 10 1/2"

2007

channel letter sign

48 x 84 x 9"

2006

(closet) (sofa) (window)

C-prints

16 x 20", 24 x 30", 16 x 20"

2006

lightbox

44 x 64 x 8"

2005

lightbox

44 x 64 x 8"

2005

A series of 16 archival pigment prints ranging in size from 4 1/2 x 3" to 10 x 15"

2005

archival pigment print

11 x 16"

2003

archival pigment print 

11 x 16"

2003

archival pigment print

11 x 16"

2003

archival pigment print

11 x 16"

2003

series of 16 C-prints

variable dimensions

2002

Polaroid

3 x 3 1/2"

2003

This text was written the morning after a motel stay and left under the bed.  The letters were cut out from sheets of notebook paper.  After the text was made, I took the bed apart, taped the letters to the floor and then reassembled the bed before checking out.

Polaroid

3 x 3 1/2"

2002

This text was written the morning after a motel stay and left under the bed.  The letters were cut out from sheets of notebook paper.  After the text was made, I took the bed apart, taped the letters to the floor and then reassembled the bed before checking out.

color Polaroid

3 x 3 1/2"

2001

color Polaroid

3 x 3 1/2"

2001

seven color Polaroids

3 x 3 1/2" each

2001

color Polaroid

3 x 3 1/2"

2001

eight color Polaroids

3 x 3 1/2" each

2001

six color Polaroids

3 x 3 1/2" each

2001

C-print

16 x 20"

2001

This text was written the morning after a motel stay and left under the bed.  The letters were cut out from sheets of notebook paper.  After the text was made, I took the bed apart, taped the letters to the floor and then reassembled the bed before checking out.

C-print

16 x 20"

2001

This text was written the morning after a motel stay and left under the bed.  The letters were cut out from sheets of notebook paper.  After the text was made, I took the bed apart, taped the letters to the floor and then reassembled the bed before checking out.

C-print

16 x 20"

2001

This text was written the morning after a motel stay and left under the bed.  The letters were cut out from sheets of notebook paper.  After the text was made, I took the bed apart, taped the letters to the floor and then reassembled the bed before checking out.

C-prints

16 x 20" each

2001

mixed media

9' 5" x 12' 5" x 15' 11"

2001

series of C-prints

16 x 20" each

2000

color photograph, parking meter

65 x 10 x 10"

2000

wax, 9mm cartridges 

8 1/2 x 24 x 3 1/2"

2000

100 4 x 6" color photographs

variable

1999

881 6 x 4" color photographs, log pages, map, statement

variable dimensions

1998

Installation text:

In October of 1998 I drove across the state of Texas on Interstate 10, entering from New Mexico and exiting into Louisiana.  Along this route I stopped every mile and took a photograph of each mile marker, starting with zero and the New Mexico line and ending with 880 at the Louisiana line.  In cases where the marker was damaged or missing,  I photographed its remnants or the spot where it should have stood.

wax, 9mm cartridges

8 x 8 x 3"

1998

mixed media

variable dimensions

1997

plywood

variable dimensions 

1996

table, chairs, plastic, tape

10 x 60 x 60"

1996

glass jars, chair pieces

10 x 23 x 18"

1996