BLUM is a contemporary art gallery located in Los Angeles, Tokyo, and New York.

BLUM Los Angeles
BLUM Los Angeles
BLUM New York

History

BLUM represents more than sixty artists and estates from sixteen countries worldwide, nurturing a diverse roster of artists at all stages of their practices with a range of global perspectives. Originally opened as Blum & Poe in Santa Monica in 1994, the gallery has been a pioneer in its early commitment to Los Angeles as an international arts capital.

The inaugural exhibition in Santa Monica featured Stroke, an installation by British artist Anya Gallaccio, consisting of chocolate smeared onto the gallery walls.[1]

BLUM Tokyo

In 2003, the gallery relocated to a 460 m2 (5,000 sq ft) warehouse on the edge of Culver City,[2] an area of industrial warehouses. Several other galleries subsequently opened on the same stretch of La Cienega Boulevard, resulting in the formation of the Culver City Art District. [3]

On its 15th anniversary in 2009, the gallery purchased a 2,000 m2 (22,000 sq ft) building across the street on La Cienega Boulevard and renovated it into a series of exhibition spaces on two floors.

In 2014, the gallery opened an exhibition space in a renovated townhouse at 19 East 66th Street, off Fifth Avenue, in New York.[4]

In 2020, Blum & Poe teamed up with art and design fair Object & Thing and Mendes Wood DM gallery to install works by 34 artists and designers – including Alma Allen, Sonia Gomes and Mark Grotjahn – throughout the glassy home of architect and industrial designer Eliot Noyes in New Canaan, Connecticut.[5][6]

In 2023, Jeff Poe departed the gallery, leaving Tim Blum in charge of the business. At the same time, New York-based Partner Matt Bangser was promoted to managing partner, a newly-created position.[7] Despite initial indications that the gallery would retain the name "Blum & Poe," [8] the gallery, shortly thereafter, officially changed its name to BLUM and announced plans to relocate its New York outpost to a 580 m2 (6,200 sq ft) space in New York's Tribeca district.[9]

Japanese artists

Prior to returning to Los Angeles in 1994, Blum had spent several years living and working in the Tokyo art world. During that time he met Yoshitomo Nara and Takashi Murakami. Blum and Poe visited Murakami's studio in Toyama to see his then newly created Oval Buddha (2007). The massive sculpture was funded through the efforts of the gallerists.[10] Following its opening in Santa Monica, Blum & Poe gave Yoshitomo Nara his first solo exhibition in the United States in 1995. Takashi Murakami’s first solo exhibition with the gallery was in 1997.

In January 2010, Blum & Poe held a solo exhibition of Lee Ufan, the influential Korean artist/theorist of Mono-ha, a loose group of Tokyo-based artists who established themselves in the late 1960s. In February 2012, the gallery held “Requiem for the Sun: The Art of Mono-ha,” the first survey of Mono-ha in the United States, which included major installations by Kōji Enokura, Noriyuki Haraguchi, Susumu Koshimizu, Lee Ufan, Nobuo Sekine, Kishio Suga, Jiro Takamatsu, and Katsurō Yoshida.[11]

In February to May 2019, Blum & Poe Los Angeles hosted the two-part exhibition “Parergon: Japanese Art of the 1980s and 1990s” curated by Mika Yoshitake, which presented the work of over twenty-five visual artists in an array of media spanning painting, sculpture, duration performance, noise, video, and photography. The exhibition title makes reference to the gallery in Tokyo (Gallery Parergon, 1981-1986) that introduced many artists associated with the New Wave phenomenon, its name attributed to Jacques Derrida’s essay from 1979 which questioned the “framework” of art, influential to artists and critics during the period. A catalogue was published alongside the exhibition by Blum & Poe and Skira Editore.

In June 2019, Blum & Poe opened "Vong Co RAHZI", a group exhibition inspired by the influential Japanese visual and music artist  'EYƎ'.[12] It featured a selection of works by EYƎ, known as a pioneer of the Japanese noise genre, and four artists influenced by him. One was Masaho Anotani, who uses his surreal and luminous artworks like a Shaman to communicate what is sacred.[13] There was also Teppei Kaneuji, who re-configures consumer goods for bizarre fantastical sculptures, and the painter of unusual and purposely unrealistic representations of memories, Chihiro Mori.[14][15] The fourth artist was Tomoo Gokita, who presents cultural archetypes with warped and concealed features in grayscale, monochrome, abstract and figurative paintings and drawings.[16]

In 2021, Blum & Poe partnered with ANOMALY Gallery for the Art Collaboration Kyoto Art Fair, which sought to bridge the distance between the Japanese art scene and the art scene overseas. Artists featured were gathered under the theme society and labour. 'We share one artist, Yukinori Yanagi, but we thought the real pleasure would come from collaborating with artists the other gallery has never worked with before.' the gallery director at ANOMALY tells Ocula Magazine.[17] Tim Blum has served on the selection comitee of Tokyo Gendai as part of a recent effort to forward the contmeporary art market in Japan.[18]

Korean artists (Dansaekhwa)

Following the 2010 solo exhibition of Lee Ufan and the subsequent survey of Mono-ha in 2012, Blum & Poe expanded its exploration of the artistic contexts in which Lee Ufan worked. In parallel to his involvement with Mono-ha, Lee had been an influential figure to his peers in Korea, whose works were collectively referred to as Dansaekhwa (monochrome painting).

In September 2014, the gallery held "From All Sides: Tansaekhwa on Abstraction," curated by Joan Kee, Associate Professor of History of Art at the University of Michigan, at Blum & Poe in Los Angeles. Featuring Lee and six other core artists from the movement — Chung Sang-Hwa (Chung Sanghwa), Ha Chonghyun, Kwon Young-woo, Park Seobo and Yun Hyong-keun — "From All Sides" was the first major survey of Dansaekhwa to be held in the United States.[19] Blum & Poe in New York subsequently held Ha Chong-hyun's first US solo show in November 2014, and Yun Hyong-keun's first posthumous US solo show in November 2015.

Artists

BLUM represents numerous living artists, including:

In addition, the gallery manages various artist estates, including:

In the past, the gallery has worked with the following artists and estates:

Branches

On its 20th anniversary in 2014, Blum & Poe established two new branches. In May, the gallery opened a gallery in a townhouse on the Upper East Side in New York. In September, Blum & Poe opened a space opposite the Meiji Shrine gardens in central Tokyo. [27][28]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ninety Pounds of Chocolate Transformed Into Lickable Wallpaper". Boston.com
  2. ↑ Vogel, Carol. "Inside Art: Impressionists Head South." The New York Times. 01 Nov. 2007. Web. 06 Aug. 2014.
  3. ↑ "Interview: Blum & Poe". Art Ltd. LifescapesMedia. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  4. ↑ Kevin McGarry (1 May 2014) Art Matters: A Powerhouse L.A. Gallery Heads East T: The New York Times Style Magazine.
  5. ↑ Kelly Crow (8 September 2020) The Art World Tiptoes Back, With Virtual Sculpture and Chatty Avatars Wall Street Journal.
  6. ↑ Alia Akkam (15 September 2020), Eliot Noyes’s Iconic New Canaan House Has Been Transformed by 34 Artists and Designers Architectural Digest.
  7. ↑ Carlie Porterfield (14 August 2023), Jeff Poe steps down from Blum & Poe, a mainstay of the Los Angeles gallery scene The Art Newspaper.
  8. ↑ Alex Greenberger (14 August 2023), Blum & Poe’s Founders Part Ways After Nearly 30 Years Together ARTnews.
  9. ↑ Alex Greenberger (17 October 2023), Blum & Poe Joins Exodus to Tribeca, Changes Name ARTnews.
  10. ↑ Sarah Thornton (27 October 2009). Seven Days in the Art World. New York. ISBN 9780393337129. OCLC 489232834.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  11. ↑ "Takashi Murakami's Gallery Ventures Out". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  12. ↑ "EYƎ, Masaho Anotani, Tomoo Gokita, Teppei Kaneuji, Chihiro Mori, Vong Co RAHZI". Blum & Poe.
  13. ↑ "Masaho Anotani". SHDW.
  14. ↑ "Teppei Kaneuji". Jane Lombard Gallery.
  15. ↑ "Chihiro Mori". Chihiro Mori website.
  16. ↑ Irwin, Michael. "Tomoo Gokita | Artist Profile". Ocula.
  17. ↑ "Art Collaboration Kyoto Transports the Art World to Japan". ocula.com. 2021-12-02. Retrieved 2021-12-02.
  18. ↑ Gerlis, Melanie (2022-06-09). "Japan gets an international art fair". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-12-27.
  19. ↑ "artnet Asks: K Auction on the Market's Dansaekhwa Moment". artnet News. 2016-05-18. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  20. ↑ Claire Selvin (18 June 2020), Two Top U.S. Galleries Take on Sonia Gomes, Brazilian Artist Known for Intricate Fabric Sculptures ARTnews.
  21. ↑ Claire Selvin (12 June 2018), Blum & Poe Gallery Now Represents Tony Lewis ARTnews.
  22. ↑ Andrew Russeth (23 May 2019), Yukinori Yanagi Heads to Blum & Poe ARTnews.
  23. ↑ Andrew Russeth (1 December 2017), Robert Colescott Estate Heads to Blum & Poe ARTnews.
  24. ↑ Annie Armstrong (3 May 2019), Blum & Poe and Van Doren Waxter Now Co-Represent the Harvey Quaytman Trust ARTnews.
  25. ↑ Claire Martin (12 September 2013), Takashi Murakami's Gallery Ventures Out Wall Street Journal.
  26. ↑ Annie Armstrong (23 April 2019), Report: Takashi Murakami Has Ended Two-Decade Relationship with Blum & Poe Gallery ARTnews.
  27. ↑ "Blum & Poe gets closer to its artists". The Japan Times. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  28. ↑ Ng, David. "Blum & Poe Opening Tokyo Office to Strengthen Ties with Asia." Los Angeles Times. 03 Oct. 2012. Web. 06 Aug. 2014.
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