Representing one of the most significant periods in Ross Bleckner’s career, this 2002 work on paper exhibits the unique optical effects Bleckner accomplishes with paint. Birds are a recurring motif in Bleckner’s work; here, the bird fades into the background, acting as a symbol of the impermanence of beauty and life. Signed, numbered, and dated by the artist, "Untitled (Bird)" is a unique variant within a series of 100 unique works.

Artwork measures 6 x 4 inches (15.2 x 10.2 cm). Framed dimensions are 14 x 12.5 inches (35.6 x 31.8 cm).

American painter Ross Bleckner (b. 1949) was born in New York and grew up on Long Island. He earned his BA in 1971 from New York University, where he studied alongside Sol LeWitt and Chuck Close. He completed his MFA at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia two years later. Throughout much of his career, Bleckner has been highly influenced by the AIDS epidemic, and has explored three consistent themes: the ephemeral nature of beauty, the fragility of life, and the loss of love. He uses symbolic imagery to express and interpret these themes, resulting in highly abstract and visually elusive images. His work has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions at institutions such as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA (1988) and the Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden (1991). He had a mid-career retrospective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY in 1995.

Selected Public Collections:
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madria, Spain