ERIC BLUM Foreign Parts November 14 – December 21, 2013
529 W. 20th St., Ste. 6W New York, NY 10011
Kathryn Markel Fine Arts is thrilled to present Foreign Parts, a series of new paintings by Eric Blum. Eric Blum's paintings are the outcome of his persistent preoccupation with the fragility and elusiveness of peripheral perception, which prompts oddly poetic interpretations that don't always resemble the narrower view. While abstract in the formal sense, the work contains implied shapes that hint at situations and narratives just beyond reach. His method contributes to this incertitude. He marries dissimilar images by combining semi-transparent sheets of ink washed, wax-infused silk, often cutting out or peeling off incompatible layers, or transplanting them from other works. Much of this is done with a willful blindness to the end result, not unlike the latent image of a photographic print immersed in the darkroom's developing tray. In a marked shift, Blum has removed much of the weight and dimensional effect found in his earlier works. These new paintings have an unadorned immediacy that more closely reflects his drawing practice. The previously soft edges have been replaced by fractures, patches, slices and spills. His approach here is to limit choice and, as dictated by guidelines, permit things to fall. Blum poses the question, "How do random elements of differing natures encounter, intersect and emulsify into relationships?" Blum was born in Fresno, CA, grew up in Los Angeles and currently lives in New York City. He was educated at UCLA and Central St Martin’s, London. His work has been shown in venues that include: The Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati; Albright Knox Gallery, Buffalo, NY; Usdan Gallery, Bennington College, VT; Knoxville Art Museum, Knoxville, TN; Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, CO; Kresge Art Museum at Michigan State University; Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ. Blum has been awarded grants from The New York Foundation for the Arts in 2008 and The Pollock-Krasner Foundation in 1998 and 2001.
Eric Blum, Untitled No. 689, 2013 Ink, silk, and beeswax on panel 40 x 40 inches $11,000
Eric Blum, Untitled No. 677, 2013 Ink, silk, and beeswax on panel 50 x 50 inches $14,000
Eric Blum, Untitled No. 678, 2013 Ink, silk, and beeswax on panel 52 x 50 inches $15 ,000
Eric Blum, Untitled No. 674, 2013 Ink, silk, and beeswax on panel 48 x 48 inches $13,000
Eric Blum, Untitled No. 685, 2013 Ink, silk, and beeswax on panel 30 x 24 inches $7,500
Eric Blum, Untitled No. 682, 2013 Ink, silk, and beeswax on panel 32 x 23 inches $7,500
Eric Blum, Untitled No. 680, 2013 Ink, silk, and beeswax on panel 30 x 24 inches $7,500
Eric Blum, Untitled No. 683, 2013 Ink, silk, and beeswax on panel 47 x 33 inches $10,000
Eric Blum, Untitled No. 684, 2013 Ink, silk, and beeswax on panel 24 x 20 inches $6,500
Eric Blum, Untitled No. 687, 2013 Ink, silk, and beeswax on panel 34 x 30 inches $8,500
ERIC BLUM 1984 Central Saint Martin’s College of Art & Design, London, England 1976 University of California, Los Angeles, CA SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2013 Foreign Parts, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York, NY K. Impereial Fine Art, San Francisco, CA 2010 Gallery Satori, New York, NY 2009 David Weinberg Gallery, Chicago, IL Boltax Gallery, Shelter Island, NY 2008 Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA 2007 Lemmons Contemporary, New York, NY 2005 Lemmons Contemporary, New York, NY Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA Boltax Gallery, Shelter Island, NY 2003 Littlejohn Contemporary, New York, NY Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA 2002 Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA 2000 Littlejohn Contemporary, New York, NY 1999 Littlejohn Contemporary, New York, NY 1998 Rule Modern and Contemporary, Denver, CO
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2011 Illusion of Life, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York, NY 2009 William Siegal Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 2008 Garson Baker Fine Art, New York, NY 2007 The Rooms, St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada Lemmons Contemporary, New York, NY 2006 Rule Gallery, Denver, CO 2005 Blue, Baxter, Chang, Patri, San Francisco, CA Paintings That Paint Themselves, Kresge Art Museum, Michigan State University, Lemmons Contemporary, New York, NY Julie Baker Fine Art, Grass Valley, CA Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA 2002 Surface and Color: Contemporary Abstraction, Columbus State University, Columbus, GA 2002 Hot Wax, Cummings Art Center, Connecticut College, New London, CT 2001 Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA Identities: Contemporary Portraiture, New Jersey Center for Visual Arts, Summit, NJ 2000 Bentley Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
1999 Waxing Poetic; Encaustic Art In America, Knoxville Art Museum, Knoxville, TN Waxing Poetic; Encaustic Art In America, Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ; 1998 House of Wax, The Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati, OH Translucence, TransAmerica Pyramid Gallery, San Francisco, CA Stephen Haller Gallery, New York, NY AWARDS and GRANTS 2008 New York Foundation for the Arts, New York, NY 2001 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New York, NY 1998 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New York, NY SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY The East Hampton Star. May 19, 2009. “‘Waxing Poetic’ on display at museum.” Garden State Press. July 22, 1999 Bucholz, Barbara, B. Chicago Tribune. December 26, 1997. Cullum, Jerry. The Atlanta Journal Constitution. February 1, 2002. Dillon, Marion. Identities: Contemporary Portraiture. New Jersey Center for Visual Arts, March 1999. Ernst, Eric. “Perspectives,” The Southampton Press. July 28, 2009. Korotkin, Joyce. “Inadmissable Evidence.” City Without Walls, Newark, NJ. July 1995. Lombardi, Dominick, D. “Unbound: Selected Artists.” The New York Times. January 2, 2005.
Mattera, Joanne. The Art of Encaustic Painting: Contemporary Expression in the Ancient Medium of Pigmented Wax. (New York: Watson-Guptil Publishers, 2001). Paglia, Michael. “Pigments of the Imagination.” Westworld. September 6, 1995. Rayner, Vivian. The New York Times. December 25, 1994. Stavisky, Gail. Waxing Poetic: Encaustic Art in America. exh. cat. (Montclair, NJ: Montclair Art Museum, 1999). Chandler, Mary Voelz. “Blum Awakens Senses.” Denver Rocky Mountain News. December 18,1998. Zimmer, William. The New York Times. November 10, 2002. Zimmer, William. “Puzzling and Provoking,” The New York Times. September 3, 1995.
529 W. 20th St., Ste. 6W New York, NY 10011 www.markelfinearts.com