SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- Ian Ross, renowned "Tech/Start-Up" artist and a pioneer of San Francisco's live painting movement today announced the grand opening of his first gallery, the Ian Ross Gallery, marking a significant turning point in the former Facebook resident artist's career. The Ian Ross Gallery is dedicated to freedom of expression through art and will be an ever-changing space where artists can regularly be found painting ­ including Ross who has a personal studio onsite. It will showcase rotating exhibits, live paintings, and workshops for patrons and the community, in addition to evolving murals on the building's exterior. The Ian Ross Gallery will officially open on Monday, March 18.

A partnership with Ross' wife Daniele Rocha, also gallerist and co-owner, the Ian Ross Gallery is positioned to be a visual highlight of San Francisco's landscape, featuring over 6,000 square feet of space for indoor and outdoor murals, including a 4,000 square foot Ian Ross mural that will wrap around the outside of the building. Commissioned via the Street SmARTS program, a partnership between the San Francisco Arts Commission and the Department of Public Works that pairs artists with businesses most affected by graffiti vandalism, the mural will be among the city's largest, and Ross' largest to date. The massive outdoor canvas, destined to become a San Francisco landmark, will change several times throughout the year and promote the talent of some of the worlds most respected muralists.

"By sharing the progression of my work, I aim to engage the public in the entire sphere of a working artist's lifestyle, from the studio experience to live painting demonstrations, workshops, and viewing finished artwork in a gallery setting" says Ross. "I believe we all harbor artistic potential and that the world would be a better place if more people expressed themselves through art. I want to empower others to realize their inner artist."

Ian Ross' style is known as "Hyperorganic," a freestyle form of artistic expression whereby the repetitive forms and patterns suggest a hyperactive, hyper-real occurrence of organic shapes. His work highlights the juxtaposition of Marin County's open spaces to San Francisco's urban density and is a response to the strong, rousing energy evident in both places. Ross paints energy by reacting to something as simple a line or a color with continuing applications of paint and "without the burden of intention." Explains Ross, "Energy may be our strongest sense, yet the least understood."

In 2011, Ross, who has developed a large following in Silicon Valley, was invited to move his studio into an on-campus warehouse at the Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto. During his yearlong residency there, Ross painted four murals in Facebook's offices and cafe, including a live mural during a 24-hour "Hackathon" that was filmed and used on MTV's "Diary of Facebook." He also curated the artwork in several of the communal spaces, regularly hosted employee guests at his in-house studio, and taught individual and group art classes. Ross has also commissioned live paintings and murals for Companies such as Google, Vendini, Alphaboost, AdRoll and Zimride, and in 2012 his work was featured on Randi Zuckerburg's BRAVO reality show, "Start-Ups Silicon Valley."

A rare solo show titled "Natural Addiction" will inaugurate the grand opening of the gallery, contrasting Ross' hyperorganic style against the addictions he has developed as one of San Francisco's premier live painters ­ love, emotions, and vices all swirl through his Bay Area inspired brush strokes. A conduit to the energy of the environment around him ­ the music, people, environment, light, shadows ­ Ross sees art as a process of self-discovery whereby feelings and energy are translated into color and form.

The Ian Ross Gallery is located at 466 Brannan Street in San Francisco's SoMa district and is open Monday through Friday from 1 p.m. - 7 p.m., and by appointment.