Dream and Do III, 1997

Known for his large-scale, evocative and immersive paintings, Ross Bleckner is an artist whose work blends abstraction and recognisable motifs to create a final result that analyses the notions of transcendence and perception. Central to a lot of Bleckner’s work was human disease, notably AIDS – such paintings as 8,122+ are so titled to reflect the number of people who had died of AIDS up until that point in history. His Cell paintings are another series that highlights the condition of the diseased human body – the series of paintings was comprised of several volumetric, multi-coloured circles or ‘cells’ against a dark, gray background; the final result looked like molecules or droplet of bloods viewed under the microscope. Although Bleckner’s work focuses on disease and ultimately death, he has stated that he does no find it to be morbid, but more of a study on life and the ups and downs of death - “we’re born, we live, we die.” (Artist website)