Ross Bleckner

Ross Bleckner (born 1949) is an American artist.

Life and work

Ross Bleckner was born in New York City. Bleckner grew up in Hewlett, New York and graduated from George W. Hewlett High School in 1967. He has a B.A. from New York University (1971) [http://www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/artist_bio_17A.html Guggenheim collection website] ] and an M.F.A. from the California Institute of the Arts (1973). [Shaw, Dan. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE1DF1639F93AA1575BC0A965958260 "Bachelor of Arts"] , "The New York Times", August 29, 1993. Accessed September 15, 2008. "'I always absolutely thought there was a difference between being a young artist and an important young artist,' said Mr. Bleckner, who grew up in Hewlett, L.I., graduated in 1971 from New York University and earned an M.F.A. from the California Institute of the Arts in 1973."]

He is the youngest gay artist ever to have a solo exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.fact|date=May 2008

His exhibition of stripe paintings in 1981 at Mary Boone's gallery was unfavourably received, [Jonathon Napack, [http://www.artnet.com/lehmann-maupin/RossBleckner/RossBleckner-TheManWho.asp "The Man Who Wanted to be Loved"] , "New York Magazine", Feb 20, 1995.] and Bleckner has expressed disappointment at the response. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0268/is_7_41/ai_98918664/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1 "Ross Bleckner talks to Dan Cameron - '80s Then - Interview"] , "ArtForum", March 2003.] His reputation was revived when a single work was included in an exhibition at the Nature Morte gallery in 1984. This exhibition put him into a new appropriationist neo-geo context, [David Rimanelli, [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0268/is_7_41/ai_98918651/pg_23 "Time capsules: 1980-1985 - Calendar"] , "ArtForum", March 2003.] whereas in 1981 his abstract paintings were seen as being out of step with the expressionist figuration of artists such as Julian Schnabel and David Salle.

Bleckner's first museum solo show was held at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 1988.

In 1995 a mid-career retrospective of his work was exhibited at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. [David Rimanelli, [http://www.frieze.com/issue/review/ross_bleckner_and_felix_gonzalez_torres/ "Ross Bleckner and Felix Gonzalez-Torres"] , "Frieze", May 1995.] His works are held in the collections of the Tate [ [http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ArtistWorks?cgroupid=999999961&artistid=2759&page=1 tate.org.uk] ] and the Guggenheim.

References

External links

* [http://www.rbleckner.com Artist's website]
* [http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/bleckner_ross.html Artcyclopedia]
* [http://www.artnet.com/ag/fineartthumbnails.asp?gid=660&aid=2611 Artnet]
* [http://www.myspace.com/bleckner Absolut Bleckner slideshows of paintings and video interview at the Guggenheim Museum]
* [http://www.lehmannmaupin.com/artists/rossbleckner Ross Bleckner at Lehmann Maupin Gallery]
*Barry Schwabsky, [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_n12_v83/ai_17860706 "Memories of light - Ross Bleckner, Guggenheim Museum, New York, New York"] , "Art in America", December, 1995.