René Ricard
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Rene Ricard (b. 1946, Boston, Massachusetts)(the name is sometimes spelled without an accent) is an American artist, poet, and philosopher.
Ricard grew up in Acushnet, Massachusetts. As a young teenager he ran away to Boston and assimilated into the literary scene of the city; by age eighteen he’d moved to New York City and where he was accepted as a protege by Andy Warhol. He appeared in the classic Warhol films Kitchen (1965) and Chelsea Girls (1966).
Having achieved stature in the art world by successfully launching the career of painter Julian Schnabel, Ricard helped bring Jean-Michel Basquiat to fame. In December of 1981 he published the first major article on the artist. The piece appeared in Artforum magazine and was called “The Radiant Child.”
In 1979 the DIA Foundation published Ricard's first book of poems, a self-titled volume styled on the TIffany Christmas catalogue. This turquoise book is featured in a photograph from Nan Goldin's book The Ballad of Sexual Dependency (1986). His second book of poetry, God With Revolver (Hanuman Books) was published ten years later.
Along with a handfull of one of a kind "Zines", Ricard has released two other volumes of poetry since then; Trusty Sarcophagus Co. (Inanout Books, 1990) and Love Poems (C U Z Editions, 1999). The second is a collaboration with artist Robert Hawkins, who provided drawings for the book. In 2004, Rene did the covers for Shadows Collide With People by John Frusciante
The majority of Ricard's poems are now achieved in the form of paintings. He is represented in New York City by the Cheim and Read Gallery on West 25th Street.
Ricard was played by Michael Wincott in Julian Schnabel's biopic, Basquiat (1996).
Ricard is reclusive and famously mercurial. He lives and works at the Hotel Chelsea in New York City.[1]
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[edit] References
- ^ Leve, Ariel 'New York Storeys' The Sunday Times Magazine, 25 March 2007, pp. 40-51. p. 47
