BIOGRAPHY

Ric Blum, aka/ F. Ric Blum, whose birth name is Frederick Steven Blum, was born in Brooklyn, NY to Herman and Ruth Blum on December 1^st 1952. His family moved from Brooklyn to Old Bridge, New Jersey when he was a very young child and it was there that he spent his most of his childhood and teen years. He began drawing at an early age, inspired by his father who was also an artist, having studied at the Art Student’s League in New York City. His father, Herman David Blum, later gave up his interest in painting so as to support his family that included Rick, his brother Gary, mother Ruth, and gandmother Esther, all who lived under the same roof provided by Herman. Herman, unfortunately, never was able to attend college due to its cost and his family duties, and thus not only had to earn his keep without a college degree, but was partially deaf from excessively loud noises while working in the Brooklyn, New York U.S. Navy shipyard while serving his country in the U.S. Navy. Late in his life, Herman contracted asbestosis from exposure to asbestos, also as a result while serving in the U.S. Navy shipyard in Brooklyn, NY when he was a young man..

As a child, Frederick S. Blum joined the local 4-H club called "The Nature Nuts," and took up projects in herpetology, photography, and entomology. Blum also went to the 4-H camp in northern New Jersey every summer, along with several other members of his local club, which was situated in the upper extent of the Appalachian Mountain range. Every summer, as his favorite part of that experience, he went with a group of other campers on a hike up the Appalachian trail to the summit. There he found tranquility and peace of mind for that momentary occasion, before hiking back down again. He was also a Boy Scout member, as well as a member of the local drum and bugle corp, and was in his school's band. When he attended Old Bridge high school a little later on, after childhood years, Blum found the subject of art in high school his favorite elective, rather than photography, because he preferred drawing using his hand instead of the mechanical device; however, he decided to pursue a career in medicine, since childhood, and devoted his studies to premedical class work even as early as high school. He received all A's in the subject of geometry without having to study it. Except for art classes, he was bored with almost all academic subjects except for chemistry and geometry. He discovered later in college he has a natural ability for writing prose and poetry, but still can't tell anybody what an "adverb" is, because he slept through English classes in high school. Blum was also on his high school wrestling team. He was taught to play the trumpet for the school band, at first in grade school and then high school, learned how to read music, played with the band for school occasions such as football games and holiday parades, and also high school concerts, but quit after three years in the high school band because he didn't like the band leader's dictatorial methodology. He did learn how to play the guitar on his own accord and learned how ro read music for the guitar as well, also before high school years, performend in numerous "garagelike bands" and "battle of the bands" contests during his teen years. A number of years later, while in his mid-twenties, he played acoustic twelve-string guitar and sang his own songs he wrote himself on open mike night at Folk City in west Greenich Village, New York City, New York. He went through a time, which was when he weighed a decision whether devote himself to his guitar and music or to become a visual artist.

He was booted into to Case Western Reserve University in 1970 as a premedical student but found that he was spending more time drawing and painting with water colors than studying premedical courses. He drew and produced a poster of blues and rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix that he was able to sell to other students . He also found himself caught up in anti-Vietnam war activities which were at their peak during that year which was the year following the Kent State University fiasco in which students were inadvertently killed by National Guardsmen. Because Case Western Reserve University is in close proximity to Kent State University, sentiments were very strong and hit close to home for almost all students.

He began his studies with the intention of becoming a painter, but by his second year, he was pointed in the direction of sculpture instead, as it seemed at the time that his major ability was in sculpture instead of painting. As an undergraduate at Parsons he was taken on by instructor-mentors Isaac Witkin and Ronald Bladen. He refused, however, to give up painting and decided to pursue a double major in sculpture and painting. He became close to Elaine DeKooning who was also instructing at Parsons in painting, as she took a personal interest in his development as a painter, as did Barbara Schwartz, who assisted DeKooning with her teaching duties. Blum also studied painting and drawing with Michael Gitlin and Michelle Stewart in his last year as an undergraduate at the Parsons school. Among Blum’s major influences as an unbdergraduate in sculpture were David Smith, Picasso, his mentor-insructor Isaac Witkin, and traditional African sculpture. Witkin proved to be a major influence himself for Blum in sculpture. In painting, as an undergraduate, they were Picasso again, and also Bill DeKoonng, Arshile Gorky, Jap Johns, Henri Matisse , Paul Klee, and also Stuart Davis. Blum also got a lot of encouragement to continue painting from his first year painting instructor, Stuart Shedletsky, while at Parsons.

It was during his second year in art school that Blum was able to meet with the preeminent contemporary master artist Jasper Johns, who invited Blum to spend a day with him at his Stonypoint , New York residence. In addition to his masterful work in painting, Mr. Johns was also a renowned master chef, and prepared lunch himself; hamburgers with wild mushrooms and mustard. He looked over Blum's amateurish portfolio with patience and care as a friend would, and showed Blum his most recent work "Fizzles" which was his illustrated collaborative work with Samuel Beckett, the Irish playwright. It was a memorable occassion for both as Johns was a reclusive man who almost never had any contact with anybody outside of a very small circle of friends. Johns was already being considered as the most important living artist, and many of Blum's peers were jealous of him for being able to meet the master. Earlier, Blum met up with John Cage, through Ethel Hultberg who was also an instructor as Parsons School of Design at the time and part of Cage's inner circle of friends. Maestro Cage, although reclusive himself, was more open to meeting new people than master Johns was. He was impressed by the fact that Blum already knew about him and his work, as Blum was introduced to Cage's work previously while a student at Case Western Reserve Universtiy, and knew of the maestro's importance long before many others did. Mr. Cage contacted Mr. Johns and advised him to be more receptive about meeting younger artists, particularly younger artists who were influenced by Jasper Johns work, as Blum was. It was in this way that the most reluctant artist to meet people in history agreed to be a friend of Ric Blum's. Later the master himself invited Blum to his major retrospective that took place at the Whitney in New York City. Blum remembers the ordeal it was for master Johns, as he did not like crowds of people let alone a mass of people all gathered to pay homage to him. He was pale, nervous, and sweating. Blum also remembers one his former instructors from art school, one who particularly did not care for Blum's work at the time, approached him at Johns' opening and asked Blum to " put in a good word " for him the next time he talked to Mr. Johns.

In 1976 Blum traveled to Israel for the summer months and met up with instructor of sculpture at Parsons, Oded Halahmy, the Israeli sculptor, who was also in Israel that summer. Blum stayed on a Kibbutz called Einat and made a large steel sculpture he painted blue which he left behind for the Kibbutz.

In his final year as an undergraduate, Blum was selected by other students to the ostensible position of the president of the then student council of Parsons School of Design and was the one person responsible for initiating the Parsons student publication called "Parsonspaper," which was his idea and inspiration, but for which he never was credited. Blum graduated from Parsons School of Design in 1977 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, an "A" average, and on the "Dean's List." He was accepted into the Master of Fine Arts degree program in sculpture at Columbia University. He studied his first year at Columbia University, where he found a respect for the artist and painting instructor David Lund with whom he studied there. He also met Clement Meadmore through the work-study program and became Meadmore's studio assistant for the first year and then a close friend thereafter. He was, however, dissatisfied with Columbia University the year of 1977-78 due to internal bureaucratic strife within its fine arts department between certain unruly students and the faculty, which had nothing to do with studying art. The then Vice Dean of Parsons School of Design, Vieri R. Salvadori, informed Blum that Parsons was about to launch their Master of Fine Arts degree program in atelier painting with mentors Paul Resika and LeLand Bell the following year, and suggested he apply to the program because of it’s atelier orientation. The overall Dean of Parsons at that moment of time was David Levy. Blum was accepted into the new Master of Fine Arts degree program and graduated the first student ever to earn the Parsons School of Design Master degree of Fine Arts in 1979. During his final student year in the Master program, Paul Resika encougared Blum to continue in painting no matter what. He once told Blum he had "vast untouched resources" as a painter. The program was representational oriented and involved working directly from observation forty hours a week, with either live models, still life, or landscape. A good portion of that year was also involved in copying old masters at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan. Among Blum’s old master influences included Rembrandt van Rijn, El Greco, Jean Baptiste Camille Corot, Jacob van Ruisdael, and Albrecht Durer. Other artist instructors there included LeLand Bell, Bruce Gagnier, Rusotto, Kaldis, and Robert DeNiro, Sr. who, without a doubt, is of the best painters of his generation, bar none; and yet whose masterful achievement in life is still overshadowed by his son's vastly overwhelming public image, due to the exclusive tendency for the appreciation of a painter's work. The other major area of the atelier program was continuing and inspiring lectures given by Bell, as the artists' perspective in re formal painting. Resika, however, was Blum's major influence that last year as a student, in painting.

After ending his formal art school training, Blum first began making sculptures using hydrocal plaster covering found objects such as chairs, light bulbs, etc. The series of sculptures he produced were mostly destroyed when the building his studio was situated in at 896 3^rd Avenue was torn down and replaced by 900 Third Avenue in Manhattan. It was also during this period that he took a job with old master and prints and drawings art dealer David Tunick, Inc. as his technical specialist in the archival mounting of old master prints and drawings for their proper display. He found time before the day began and during lunch breaks to copy some of the old master prints and drawings that Mr. Tunick had for sale, with Mr.Tunick’s approval, including such prints as “The Three Trees” plus numerous portraits by Rembrandt, "Melancholia" by Durer, plus dozens of other old masters. After leaving Mr. Tunick's job, Blum began making sculpture maquettes out of styrofoam and bondo, resembling wood when polished, but were impermanent and fell apart too easily. Blum made his own brochure back in Manhattan in an effort to glean representation for his work, but it was not well received by various galleries in the city, which was home to Blum. He was also continuing work in painting throughout this time as well, and his paintings were mainly nonrepresentational. Around 1982 he began to work for himself in graphic design doing mostly paste-ups and mechanicals which was a popular way for artists to make money before the advent of graphic design computer programs. Blum's period in graphic design ended when he contracted mononucleosis, which left him without a way to make a living for six months during which time he lost all of his graphic design freelance accounts. During this period he was still producing sculpture maquettes in Styrofoam and bondo, but was also using wax over styrofoam as well for making original work. At this time he began working with the idea of repetitive forms and shapes in his work in sculpture. He was also painting every opportunity he had as well, although he didn’t want to expose his work in painting until many years later. It is important to note that around this time, on a positive note, that Blum exhibited his work for the first time in Manhattan at a flower shop called Christies Flowers in the Wall Street district in a group show.

In 1986, Blum moved to Florida after a long and difficult battle with his landlord, Missim Trading Corporation, who tried to evict him through retaliation for complaints he made in good faith. In Florida, however, he was able to take up residency in Boca Raton at an apartment complex called Cynthia Gardens, where he converted the bedroom into his studio and slept on a convertible couch in the living room. He began working in wood indigenous to Florida such as mahogany and also painted large nonrepresentational paintings.

Blum made new contacts in Florida and began teaching art classes at the newly formed Armory Art Center in West Palm Beach. It was there that he met local artist Paul Aho who was the new chairman of the Professional Artists Committee of the Palm Beach County Council of the Arts at the time and he was recruited onto the committee by Aho. For several years, Blum provided an airtime calendar of current arts activities every month in and around Palm Beach County on the local, not for profit, radio station WXEL, which was well received for the time he spent doing it. It was around this time that Blum joined Mensa, the high iq organization in order to meet new people, and hopefully also an intellectual girlfriend who might understand him. He also was able to join the Triple Nine Society, which is another very high iq organization for people who have more innate intelligence than 99.9 percent of the general population, again hoping to meet a female companion with enough intelligence to understand and communicate with him. He also was included in faculty group exhibitions of the Armory Art Center for a number of years while he taught classes there. Other instructors at the Armory Art Center were local painters Sam Perry and Sharon Koskoff. He also began teaching as an adjunct professor of art at Palm Beach Community College with sculptor Reuben Hale at the helm of the Humanities department, and also classes at Lynn University, which was called the College of Boca Raton until 1989, under sculptor Ernest Ranspach who was the chair of the art department. Blum was givien his first semi-solo exhibition by Hale and painting instructor James Houser at Palm Beach communtiy college along with artist instructor, Dora Struther, during his first year of teaching at the central campus of Palm Beach community college. It was during this time that he met and married his former wife, Cynthia Dolin, a licensed mental health counselor, with whom he was introduced by way of a mutual friend at an art opening at the art museum of Boca Raton. He and Cynthia purchased a home together in West Boca Raton in the River Oaks community in 1989. He converted the two car garage into his main studio with some additonal studio work space inside the home. His happy marriage with Cynthia ended in divorce in 1998, due mostly to financial circumsatnces. Blum ended up with the home as part of the final settlement of the divorce, and since then has been using almost his entire home in River Oaks for his studio and residence. He also exhibited in several faculty shows at Lynn University several years before his divorce from Cynthia.. Blum taught at both colleges from 1986 to 1994 as an adjunct professor of art, and until the retirement of Hale from Palm Beach community college, his history shows that he was extremely well liked by his students.. The courses he taught on a regular basis from both schools included life drawing, basic drawing, nonobjective ("abstract") and representational painting, 3-D design, design fundamentals, color "theory", graphic design, and printmaking. At the Armory Art Center, previously, he had also taught nonobjective ("abstract") and representational sculpture as well as nonobjective ("abstract") and representational painting classes. It was also in 1994 that Blum was included in a group exhibition at Gallerie 420, which belonged to Gaye Wolfe, another local artist and activist in West Palm Beach and who was active in Palm Beach County arts. Wolfe now lives and works in Alaska. Later the same year Blum had his first brief but truly solo show which involved an entire space of just his work alone at the, now defunct, West End Arts Gallery also in West Palm Beach, Florida.

"FLIPPANT FURY " BY CLEM MEADMORE 9 FEBRUARY 1926 - 19 APRIL 2005
(This is one of Clem's sculpture's I helped with in 1977 )

In the years following his momentary solo show at the West End gallery, Blum experienced a tumultuous period in his life which included his divorce from his then wife Cynthia, and having to take numerous jobs that had nothing to do with his artist career. Blum was working in welded steel until then and invented his own way of making sculpture that he called the “mo1ule.” A “mo1ule” (pronounced monule) was a smaller module in function that was actually a sculpture in and of itself. Each mo1ule was comprised of identical elements that were visually related. The mo1ules, then, were consecutivley numbered and chosen to be welded together to other mo1ules according to how their numbers appeared when dice were rolled. His influences through Cage, Witkin, Smith, and also composer Philip Glass were apparent in this work.

In the early part of the new millennium, Blum entered a wood sculpture into a juried competition at a local art museum in Del Ray Beach, Florida and won first place in the competition. Painting, however, even then was becoming more important in Blum's work.

Presently, Blum is working with painting, both representationally and nonrepresentationally (abstract.) His work also involves painting on consrtucted grounds as well as traditional stretched canvas. He is without gallery representation, but would talk to anybody about representing, selling, buyng, or exhibiting his work. He also gives lessons in painting or sculpture to private parties or individuals interested in learning the arts of painting or sculpture and leaves the choice of medium and subject to his students. Contact him for more information.