Thom Ross
The work of Thom Ross asks viewers to re-examine either what they know about history or what they think they know about history. Focusing on the historical “folk hero,” he has painted Indians playing croquet and ping pong, a camel walking through the deserts of Arizona with a human skeleton strapped to his back and General Custer standing next to his pet pelican. His paintings from a series on the ill-fated "last climb" of British climbers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine — two men who disappeared on the north ridge of Mt. Everest on June 8, 1924 — were inspired by his friendship with artist Jenni Lowe-Anker and her husband, mountaineer and climber Conrad Anker. A wholly self-taught artist, Ross shows in numerous galleries throughout the U.S. and lectures at colleges on the Wild West, where he combines a unique and passionate presentation of art and history.