Untitled, from the "America: Now and Here" portfolio

About the Photographer

Bleckner, Ross

American, b. 1949 New York City, NY

Ross Bleckner creates works in painting and photography that address themes of loss, memory, change, vitality, and mortality. Bleckner builds upon the art historical theme known as Memento Mori–a Latin phrase which translates to “remember you will die,” and many of his is works specifically tackles the AIDS epidemic. In Untitled (2009), in the MoCP collection, lights create a dizzying and ambiguous effect that could read in many ways, such as a blurry landscape or as cells under a microscope.

Ross Bleckner completed a BA from New York University in 1971 and an MFA at the California Institute of the Arts in 1973. His work has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions, including a mid-career retrospective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 1995. He has participated in various group exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of Art, NY; the Biennale of Sydney; the Reina Sofia, Madrid; Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin; Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco; and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; among others.

Updated 7/11/2023