Ross Bleckner studied alongside Sol Lewitt and Chuck Close at New York University and, after graduating, continued his studies at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California, where he met David Salle.
In the 1980s, he became part of the New York art scene and was one of its most prominent figures. His first works, which he called Stripes and which are based on the Op Art approach, consist of a series of vertical lines in different colors that alternate and exploit the laws of optics. Towards the end of the 1980s, he created a series of works with a more symbolic character entitled Memorials, which deal with the theme of illness and death, particularly in connection with the AIDS epidemic that had ravaged the American art scene. These are canvases on which everyday objects such as vases and flowers stand out like ghostly apparitions against a dark background. From 1987 onwards, he created the Constellations and Nocturnal Architectures series, a sequence of starry skies with a lyrical, poetic character, consisting of pure forms of light vibrating on the surface of the painting. At the same time, his father’s tumor disease sparked his interest in anatomy, particularly the image of DNA and cells under a microscope. This observation revealed a microcosm of unusual elements that were both repulsive and fascinating, such as tumor cells and sarcomas, which he depicted in his famous Cell Paintings through circular shapes of color, light, and semi-transparent spheres. In the 1990s, he created the Birds series, in which he painted colored silhouettes of birds that seem to be captured at the precise moment of flight, the symbol of maximum freedom, and printed on dark canvas. Since the early 2000s, he has turned to sublimated, almost abstract flower images, the so-called Flower Paintings. Flowers are indeed a fundamental and recurring feature throughout his work. According to Bleckner, the image of flowers embodies more than any other the relationship between mortality and humanity, darkness and light, abstraction and representation, while reflecting the connection between humans and nature. In his Flower Paintings, we can see the quest for a balance between the inner world of dreams and the outer world of facts, which, due to its appearance, is undoubtedly considered real and rational. In this way, Bleckner attempts to transform the momentary existence in time into an infinite artistic moment, without denying or suppressing the transience of life.
Bleckner is a board member of the AIDS Community Research Initiative of America (ACRIA), a non-profit center for research and health education, of which he is a founding member. In 2009, he was appointed Goodwill Ambassador by the United Nations, becoming the first artist to hold this position.
Bleckner has also been honored by the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton, New York, for his outstanding contribution to humanitarian and cultural causes around the world.
His works are represented in the collections of major international art museums, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, MOCA in Los Angeles, the Jewish Museum and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, Tate Britain in London, and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid.

Ross Bleckner lives and works in New York.

The following Ross Bleckner solo shows are scheduled for 2025:

It Used To Be, Capitain Petzel, Berlin (upcoming)
New Paintings 2022-2025, Galleria Mazzoli, Modena, Italy
Commune, Maruani Mercier, Brussels, Belgium
Small Paintings, Baldwin Gallery, Aspen, CO
The Viewing Room, Petzel Gallery, New York, NY