Ashley Bickerton

Bickerton’s Blur paintings, which depict figures and faces in extreme soft focus, were inspired by his chance rediscovery of a faded family snapshot. Each work begins as a digital photograph, which is then rendered as a haze of color punctuated by eyes in the form of colored dots. Produced during the last few months of the artist’s life and after he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the series evokes memories of friends and moments from his life without nostalgia. Bickerton’s use of sprayed acrylic paint and hyper-stylized color fields also recalls the time that the artist spent working with Jack Goldstein, while the vibrant palette resonates with that of his earlier sculptures. Suggesting a gradual disappearance of their subjects, these elegiac final canvases see Bickerton take a notably contemplative turn.

Alongside the paintings, Bickerton presents variations on some of his earlier, iconic sculptures. In Tormented Self-Portrait: Susie at Arles (25 Years), he revisits, a quarter of a century after the original, one of his initial self-portrait constructions, a Minimalist-style box emblazoned with Bickerton’s obfuscatory signature/trademark, “Susie,” which first appeared in a painting from 1982, alongside an array of corporate logos associated with products consumed by the artist. While inspired by Van Gogh’s self-portraits—hence the reference to Arles—Bickerton’s work knowingly replaces conventional representation of its subject with an array of mass-produced options. “Maybe somewhere in this circumscribed liberty of obvious, eccentric, contradictory, and choiceless choices,” he wrote, “we can pinpoint an individual.”

The Wall-Wall series, begun in 1985, also consists of quasi-industrial constructions, these inset with painted or cast resin rocks (a combination inspired by a garden wall spotted in Mexico) and inscribed with narratives. “I felt that ultimately art needed to offer some form of psychic and emotional transport,” wrote Bickerton, “which my brick walls were designed purposefully not to do, so I added overly literary texts.” A bloated, fleshy sculpture titled F.O.B.: Tied (White) (the acronym stands for “Fresh Off Boat” or “First [Day] On Beach”) is also a self-portrait; based on the artist’s measurements, it embodies his feelings on returning to the tropics from winters in New York.

Several large works in the exhibition also reflect Bickerton's love of the ocean. Clear Shark and Double Manta (Clear) belong to a series of sculptures in polyurethane resin hung with interpretations of traditional crafted artifacts and plastic bags filled with clear liquid suggesting IV fluid, while Water Vector 1 (Gray) and Water Vector 2 (Gray) incorporate found beach detritus into elaborate mixed-media assemblages featuring boxes with mirrored interiors, satellite images of water and river patterns etched on glass, handles for installation, and covers for protection.