Watch The Prescient New Music Video For Ross Simonini's "Theme of No Need"

text by Ross Simonini

Two weeks before my home was destroyed by the Eaton Fire, I created a video of a man racing through fire. At the time of its creation, I was not concerned about fire, and yet only days later, I would be racing through a fiery landscape of my community. Fire has since defined my life. 

I believe art comes outside of time, from the place of dreams, where experiences occur outside the tedious march of causality. It can be divinatory, but I do not care to burden it with this kind of heavy meaning. I prefer to make and enjoy art without the technology of meaning, remaining in a liminal state as I work. Living in this state, however, has been one of the greatest challenges of my life.

“Theme of No Need” is the first single off the independently released album, Themes Vol. 1, out March 21st.

Everything is Alive: SHRINE Los Angeles presents Ross Simonini's "Tales"

Ross Simonini, The Ties, 2023, milk paint on muslin in walnut frame. Image courtesy of SHRINE.

Ross Simonini’s Tales is currently on view at SHRINE Los Angeles. In his work, Simonini completely intertwines art with life. He uses every body part to write, draw and paint—eradicating the divide that often lies between the artist and the canvas. It’s this corporeal process that begs the hidden unconscious to appear.

All of Simonini’s beings signify and relate to an understanding of the world through animism—a universal concept that every single thing is alive and animated. The confounding narratives that drift into focus in his paintings include virtually all beings from the animate to inanimate. Simonini sees and feels the life inside everything.

Tales is on view through August 19 at SHRINE, 538 N. Western Los Angeles, CA 90004

Ross Simonini, The Lets, 2023, milk paint and graphite on muslin in walnut frame. Image courtesy of SHRINE.

Ross Simonini, The Taps, 2023, milk paint, egg tempera and graphite on muslin in walnut frame. Image courtesy of SHRINE.

Ross Simonini, The Mays, 2023, milk paint and graphite on muslin in walnut frame. Image courtesy of SHRINE.

Brian Belott and Ross Simonini: A Cross Country Simultaneous Performance

Last year, Brian Belott and Ross Simonini performed across the country simultaneously, as part of their ongoing collaboration in painting, text, and music. Simonini performed in Los Angeles, on the ruins of Cobb Estate, the former property of the Marx Brothers, which is now a wilderness area believed to haunted. Belott performed at anonymous gallery, at the closing of Simonini's exhibition in New York, where Simonini's performance was live streamed. The release of this video is in celebration of Sound Scribbles, a collection of Belott's vocal improvisations, compiled by Simonini. The album releases on RVNG Intl. on April 14th and is presented in two limited versions, with essays from Belott and Simonini.

Watch The Premiere Of "I Am Love" By ROOS

I Am Love is a new video by ROOS the ongoing musical project by the Los Angeles-based interdisciplinary artist, Ross Simonini The video is the second from ROOS’ debut album, Refrains and is a continuation of his previous video The Well. Simonini released Refrains in conjunction with an exhibition of new paintings at Et Al Gallery in January 2021. Both videos are collaborations with the artist, Rafael Delacruz and include documentation of Simonini’s mudlover performances, which have taken place annually, every winter, across California since 2018. In this video, Simonini performs in the attic of a former Odd Fellow’s Hall, in the town of Forestville, Sonoma County, where the artist formerly lived. The video’s release will be accompanied by two NFTs.