Ross Harris, Photographer & Filmmaker

ROSS HARRIS

Somewhere in our infinite scroll through Ross Harris' Tik Tok, we wondered aloud whether there was anything Harris (perhaps the coolest dad on social media) couldn’t do, and if there were any other place besides LA that he could have done it.  His big break came at 10 years old when he appeared in the cult classic film, Airplane! Airplane! (1980) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (he’s the kid in the cockpit audacious enough to tell Laker’s Legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar he needs to work harder on defense), but Harris has proved an exception to the trope of the cursed child actor. 

True Angelenos are masters of reinvention and second (and third) acts, and Harris’ incredibly prolific career has gone on to include top stints as a musician (he’s toured with Beck), photographer  (he’s shot everyone from Anderson Paak, his friend the late Elliott Smith, St. Vincent, Sudan Archives, and so many more), and filmmaker (he’s the Levi’s go-to for sideways Americana). Recently, he’s brought the idea of rediscovery and second acts to new projects: he’s currently running a video series  breaking down each painting in an art collection he stumbled upon at an estate sale containing the works of R.L. Greene, an unknown contemporary of Henry Taylor. Later this March, he’ll recap of his street art project, Elliott Infinity, at Pauhaus Gallery. 

Check out Ross’ LA below:

Photo courtesy of the artist

• The most energizing LA art experience:  For me it’s the murals. Los Angeles has a long history of mural art, past and present. A great primer is the 1980 documentary film by French New Wave director, Agnes Varda, called Murs Murs. Many of the murals featured are still around today. I just love the idea that there is a gorgeous 50 year old mural of the actor Steve McQueen painted onto the side of a clapboard house in the working class district of Pico Union. You can see it from the street but if you are nice the people that live there will let you into the parking lot for a better look. 

Criterion Collection Still From Murs Murs

• The artist who currently defines LA is: I love Kristoferson San Pablo @hikristofferson Their work is often pop culture focused and thus very LA. It’s funny and sexy and bright but has a dark undercurrent. Which is also very LA.

Kristofferson San Pablo Girl Interupted, Selina Working drom home 2023

• Favorite LA art adventure: I love to visit the mausoleum at Forest Lawn Glendale. It houses seven reproductions of Michelangelo sculptures and it’s as close as you can get to flying to Fiorenza for the day and it’s absolutely free.
• Currently reading: The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band that Burned a Million Pounds, by John Higgs. It’s about the pioneering electro dance band from the UK that decided to take all the money they earned from their chart topping record sales and set it on fire in a remote Scottish farmhouse. 
• The most essential voices in art news: For me it’s the artists themselves. At least the ones that run their own social media presences. Nothing better than hearing it straight from the source. 
• Before the fair, I’ll get my (coffee/smoothie/breakfast) at: Frieze is in Santa Monica so I’d probably pull up to Matcha Village on Sawtelle Blvd. which is the west side’s Little Tokyo. 
• The last photo in my camera roll: My son holding a postcard with a shark on it that says Send More Tourists to California they’re delicious.
• I get my supplies at: I’m a photographer so my supplies are film and I buy it exclusively at Dexter's Camera  in my hometown of Ventura. They’ve been around forever and they make developing super affordable and it’s gotten all these local kids into shooting on film. There are always a bunch of kids in there getting film. It’s heartwarming to see.
• The last rabbit hole I went down: There’s these kids in the UK that are parkour athletes and the trend with them now is to jump off buildings or bridges and slide down the light poles like a fireman’s pole. Some of them are 30 feet high. I’ve probably watched every video of that and followed them all on IG or Youtube. 
• LA’s best hotel lobby: The Bonaventure. It’s quintessential LA and yet it’s not. This towering brutalist atrium seems more like you are in Atlanta or Detroit but it’s the backdrop of so many LA movies.
• How do you prepare to be creative? This is a very LA answer but I drive around the city. Drive the length of Sunset Blvd. It worked for Ed Ruscha, it will work for you. Just don’t have a specific place or time you are trying to get to / by.