Patrick Painter, Inc., presents an exhibition of paintings by New York artist Ross Bleckner. The show, opening in the West gallery on August 14th, will feature five works that come together to cohesively represent Bleckner’s works during the 1980s. Open August 14 – September 11, 2010 .
Throughout his career, Ross Bleckner’s paintings have been largely an investigation of change, loss, and memory, often addressing the idea of mutating of viruses. By this, his art can be read as finding beauty in our inherent vulnerability. Bleckner uses symbolic imagery rather than direct representation, and his work is visually elusive with forms that constantly shift appearance. “So much of my work is about building up and taking apart,” stated Bleckner, “about how the shapes form and uniform, how they dissolve and reassemble.”
Two of the featured paintings, Unknown Quantities of Light (1987) and Stripe Painting with Bird (1989; pictured above) are both prime examples of Bleckner’s stripped motifs that were employed frequently during this period of his career. His use of obscure forms, hidden by the monochrome overlay, are employed to signify change and the deterioration of memory.
The included work Small Count No Count, (1989) is a display of Bleckner’s exploration of mutations at the cellular level in response to his being affected by particular illnesses. This brings into thought the imagery of things in flux that are briefly glimpsed, the act of going from sick to healthy, and back again. By smearing and blurring the painted surfaces, he makes the delicate subjects appear all the more tenuous, which acts as a metaphor for fragile beauty.
Bleckner attended New York University before earning his MFA at the California Institute of the Arts in 1973. Works by the Bleckner are held in collections around the world including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, Astrup Fearnley Museet for Moderne Kunst in Oslo, Museo National Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.
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