Ian Ross paints energy. In front of an audience on stage, in his lush backyard studio, or in the warehouse at Facebook HQ, his work is alive. Ross works “without the burden of intention” and reacts to each moment with bold graffiti inspired forms and colors. Ross has developed his unique style for 20 years and takes great pride in his spontaneous method. His street art style has become widely accepted and revered in a fine art realm. He has become known as the “Start-up Artist” painting live murals in high tech offices for Companies like Facebook, Google, Gap, Old Navy, Vendini, Alphaboost, AdRoll and Zimride.
As the in-house resident artist at Facebook HQ during 2011 in Palo Alto, Ross learned how powerful his work was on a large scale. He painted four murals in the offices and cafe of Facebook, including one during a 24 “Hackathon” that was filmed and used on MTV's “Diary of Facebook”. He also painted a 110 ft mural in San Francisco that was featured on the cover of the Wall St. Journal for a story called “Graffiti's New Enemy, Legal Art”. Other notable live murals include his 70 ft piece titled “Royal Feathers” in the Cosmopolitan Hotel Las Vegas that was featured in Vegas Rated magazine, his 10 mural “environment” inside Start-Up House in SF, and a 60 ft. tall behemoth on their exterior facing the Bay Bridge.
Born and raised as a third generation artist in Marin County (just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco) Ross has relocated to his hometown after completing a BFA in Ceramics from Long Beach State in 2003. His extensive travels following the worlds best graffiti inspired him to start painting in the Bay Area after the move, leaving clay and kilns aside. A surfer of 20 years, Ross is a hardcore local in the cold treacherous waters of Northern California, and embodies the lifestyle of this rugged counter culture. His passionate, even addictive connection to nature rivals only his love for graffiti art and of course his beautiful Brazilian wife Daniele, who manages his business full time.
