Brandon Ballengée

RIP Spix’s Macaw: After Tyler Yicker, 2014

Artist cut and burnt original movie theatre offset lithograph, ashes, and etched funerary urn

39.5 x 27 in., framed

Detail from original movie theatre offset lithograph from artwork by Tyler Yicker published in 2011, ashes, and etched funerary urn.

—Spix’s macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii), also known as the little blue macaw, was a macaw species endemic to Brazil. The bird had a very restricted range because it only nested in the Caribbean Trumpet Tree, a hardwood valued for lumber. Due to deforestation, the bird has been completely extirpated from its natural range, and following a several-year survey, it was officially declared it extinct in the wild in 2019. The last confirmed observation of a wild Spix's macaw was in 2016.