COLLECTION NAME:
Visual Resources Teaching Collection
mediaCollectionId
ArtArtHiAAH~7~7
Visual Resources Teaching Collection
Collection
true
Image Record ID:
aahi0005205
image_record_id
aahi0005205
Image Record ID
false
Work Title (display):
Architectura of the Sky III
Image Title:
full view
Work Dates (display):
1988
Work Dates type:
creation
Image Date (display):
2009-09-11
Work Creator (display):
Ross Bleckner (American, born 1949)
Work Creator gender:
male
work_creator_or_agent_gender
male
Work Creator gender
false
Work Creator notes (display):
American painter. He completed a BA at New York University (1971) and an MFA at the California Institute of Arts (1973). In the early 1980s Bleckner made a series of stripe paintings, appropriations of Op art imagery over which he imposed miasmatic light effects and figurative elements such as humming-birds. His nostalgic reinterpretation of the optimistic, apolitical work of Bridget Riley took place in the light of politicized debates concerning the death of painting. Of these works, The Arrangement of Things (oil on canvas, 2.44×4.12 m, 1982; Boston, MA, Mus. F.A.) shows an expansive striped field, over which play subtly coloured areas suggestive of natural light. Bleckner took the dimensions of such works from Barnett Newman's Vir heroicus sublimis (2.42×5.14 m, 19501; New York, MOMA), alluding to the spirituality of Newman's example, although he describes the transcendent aspect of his own work as a 'degraded sublime'. In his subsequent paintings Bleckner often used symbolic, romantic imagery such as chandeliers and candelabras. His interest in such 'dead' imagery, and the elegiac, memorializing atmosphere it creates, connect strongly with the AIDS epidemic, a primary concern in Bleckner's own life and work. Bleckner has described his paintings as 'meditations on light'. In the series Architecture of the Sky (198790) he distilled his technique of constructing an underlying geometry through which light can emanate. Architecture of the Sky (oil on canvas, 2.69×2.34 m, 1988; priv. col., see 1995 exh. cat., pl.50) shows what could be the interior of a vast dome, light entering through the oculus at the top and illuminating the impasto dots that define the spreading volume of light. Bleckner uses a range of materials chosen for their physical qualities, such as metal pigments and wax, and has also made many watercolours that continue his exploration of the symbolic and spiritual aspects of form and light. (Grove Art Online Accessed 2006-07-25)
Work Style Period:
Contemporary
work_styleperiod
Contemporary
Work Style Period
false
Work Style Period:
20th century
work_styleperiod
20th century
Work Style Period
false
Work Style Period:
Neo-Geo
work_styleperiod
Neo-Geo
Work Style Period
false
Work Subject:
surfaces (object portions)
subject
surfaces (object portions)
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
transcendence (philosophy)
subject
transcendence (philosophy)
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
spirituality
subject
spirituality
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
symbols
subject
symbols
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
irony (in visual art)
subject
irony (in visual art)
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
light
subject
light
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
history (discipline)
subject
history (discipline)
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
time
subject
time
Work Subject
false
Work Worktype:
oil paintings
work_type
oil paintings
Work Worktype
false
Work Worktype:
paintings (visual works)
work_type
paintings (visual works)
Work Worktype
false
Work Category (VRC classification):
paintings
work_category__ucbaahvrc_classification_
paintings
Work Category (VRC classification)
false
Work Material and Technique (display):
oil on canvas
Work Measurements (display):
8 ft 10 in (H) x 7 ft 8 in (W)
Work Location (Repository or Site) name:
Reinhard Onnasch Gallery
Work Location (Repository or Site) role:
exhibition
Work Location (Geographic) name:
Berlin, Germany
Image Source Reproduction citation:
Taylor, Brandon. Contemporary Art: Art Since 1970. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc., 2005.
image_source_copy_from_print_name
Taylor, Brandon. Contemporary Art: Art Since 1970. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc., 2005.
Image Source Reproduction citation
false
Image Source Reproduction refid:
0-13-118174-2
Image Source Reproduction page number:
116
Image Source Reproduction refid type:
ISBN
Image Rights (display):
© Mary Boone Gallery
Image Rights fair use checklist:
1) use of this image is for education and educational research; 2) access is restricted to University of Colorado and Auraria Higher Education Center communities; 3) the original photographer is credited if known; 4) the image is published; 5) the amount of the work in relation to the whole is needed for education or educational research; 6) the number of derivatives is the minimum required for education or educational research; 7) the image has not been found to be reasonably available for sale; 8) duplication of the image does not violate preexisting contracts.
Work Rights (display):
© Ross Bleckner
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Holding Institution:
University of Colorado at Boulder
Collection:
Art and Art History Visual Resources Collection
Collection info and contact:
For information about this collection, see