Rene Ricard (July 23, 1946 – February 1, 2014) was an American poet, actor, art critic, and painter.GalleristNY (February 1, 2014)
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Life and career

Albert Napoleon Ricard was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and grew up in

Acushnet, Massachusetts Acushnet () is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,559 at the 2020 census. History Acushnet was first settled in 1659. It has been included as a part of three separate towns throughout its history. It ...

near

New Bedford New Bedford (Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. Up through the 17th century, the area was the territory of the Wampanoag Native American pe ...

. As a young teenager he ran away to Boston and assimilated into the literary scene of the city. By age eighteen, he had moved to New York City, where he became a protégé of

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

. He appeared in the Warhol films ''

Kitchen A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation in a dwelling or in a commercial establishment. A modern middle-class residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a ...

'' (1965), ''

Chelsea Girls ''Chelsea Girls'' is a 1966 American experimental underground film directed by Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey. The film was Warhol's first major commercial success after a long line of avant-garde art films (both feature-length and short). It w ...

'' (1966), and ''

The Andy Warhol Story ''The Andy Warhol Story'' is a 1966 underground film directed by Andy Warhol with cinematography by Paul Morrissey, and starring Edie Sedgwick and Rene Ricard (as Andy Warhol). According to the Warhol Stars website, the film was made in November ...

'' (1966). As a performer, Ricard was a founding participant in the Theater of the Ridiculous collaborating with John Vaccaro and

Charles Ludlam Charles Braun Ludlam (April 12, 1943 – May 28, 1987) was an American actor, director, and playwright. Biography Early life Ludlam was born in Floral Park, New York, the son of Marjorie (née Braun) and Joseph William Ludlam. He was raise ...

. He also appeared in the 1980 Eric Mitchell independent film ''

Underground U.S.A. ''Underground U.S.A.'' is a 1980 feature-length underground film directed by Eric Mitchell and starring Patti Astor, Rene Ricard, Jackie Curtis, Cookie Mueller, Tom Wright, John Lurie, and Taylor Mead. Future director Jim Jarmusch was the sound ...

'' (1980), as well as numerous other independent art and commercial films. In the 1980s, he wrote a series of influential essays for ''

Artforum ''Artforum'' is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art. The magazine is distinguished from other magazines by its unique 10½ x 10½ inch square format, with each cover often devoted to the work of an artist. Notabl ...

'' magazine. Having achieved stature in the art world by successfully launching the career of painter

Julian Schnabel Julian Schnabel (born October 26, 1951) is an American painter and filmmaker. In the 1980s, he received international attention for his "plate paintings" — with broken ceramic plates set onto large-scale paintings. Since the 1990s, he has been ...

, Ricard helped bring

Jean-Michel Basquiat Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the Neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat first achieved fame as part of the graffiti duo SAMO, alongside Al ...

to fame. In December 1981, he published the first major article on Basquiat, entitled "The Radiant Child," in ''Artforum''. Ricard also contributed art essays to numerous gallery and exhibition catalogs. He was immortalized by

in the drawing entitled ''Untitled (Axe/Rene)'', representing the tension that existed between the two. Warhol called Ricard "the

George Sanders George Henry Sanders (3 July 1906 – 25 April 1972) was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth, bass voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous chara ...

of the Lower East Side, the

Rex Reed Rex Taylor Reed (born October 2, 1938) is an American film critic, occasional actor, and television host. He writes the column "On the Town with Rex Reed" for '' The New York Observer''. Early life Reed was born on October 2, 1938, in Fort Wo ...

of the art world."Warhol, Andy; Hackett, Pat (ed.). ''The Andy Warhol Diaries''. New York: Warner Books, 1989. Saturday, January 28, 1984 entry, p. 551. From the mid-1960s Ricard contributed writings to numerous independent poetry magazines and anthologies. In 1979, the

Dia Art Foundation Dia Art Foundation is a nonprofit organization that initiates, supports, presents, and preserves art projects. It was established in 1974 by Philippa de Menil, the daughter of Houston arts patron Dominique de Menil and an heiress to the Schlumb ...

published Ricard's first book of poems, an eponymous volume styled on Tiffany & Co. catalog. The fact that the turquoise-covered book of poems appears in photographs taken on the beach in ''

The Ballad of Sexual Dependency ''The Ballad of Sexual Dependency'' is a 1985 slide show exhibition and 1986 artist's book publication of photographs taken between 1979 and 1986 by photographer Nan Goldin. It is an autobiographical document of a portion of New York City's No ...

'' by

Nan Goldin Nancy Goldin (born September 12, 1953) is an American photographer and activist. Her work often explores LGBT subcultures, moments of intimacy, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and the opioid epidemic. Her most notable work is '' The Ballad of Sexual Depe ...

illustrates its ubiquity as summer reading in 1979. His second book of poetry, ''God With Revolver'' (Hanuman Books) was published ten years later, edited by Raymond Foye. The same year he contributed poems to ''

Francesco Clemente Francesco Clemente (born 23 March 1952) is an Italian contemporary artist. He has lived at various times in Italy, India and New York City. Some of his work is influenced by the traditional art and culture of India. He has worked in various art ...

: Sixteen Pastels'' (London: Anthony D'Offay). Ricard released two other volumes of poetry: ''Trusty Sarcophagus Co.'' (Inanout Press, 1990), which featured his poems rendered in paintings and drawings and was the basis of an exhibit at the Petersburg Gallery, New York City; and ''Love Poems'' (C U Z Editions, 1999) as a collaboration with artist Robert Hawkins who provided drawings for the book. Ricard also saw publication of single-poem works as limited edition artist books: ''Opera of the Worms'' with paintings by Judith Rifka (1984), ''Cecil'' (2004), and ''In Daddy's Hand'' with artist Rita Barros (2010). Beginning in the late 1980s Ricard's poems were often rendered in paintings and drawings. His work was the subject of several solo gallery exhibitions in the United States and United Kingdom, as well as being represented in many group exhibitions. In 2003, Percival Press published the full-color monograph ''Paintings & Drawings'', illustrating a collection of visually rendered poems by Ricard. In 2004, Ricard created the album cover for '' Shadows Collide With People'' by musician

John Frusciante John Anthony Frusciante (; born March 5, 1970) is an American musician, best known as the guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers across three stints since 1988. He has released 11 solo albums and 7 EPs, ranging in style from acoustic guitar to e ...

. Ricard was portrayed by

Michael Wincott Michael Anthony Claudio Wincott (born January 21, 1958) is a Canadian actor. His deep, raspy voice has often led to his being cast in villainous roles. Some of his best-known roles include Guy of Gisborne in '' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' ( ...

's biographical film, ''

Basquiat Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the Neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat first achieved fame as part of the graffiti duo SAMO, alongside Al ...

'' (1996). He lived at the famed

Hotel Chelsea The Hotel Chelsea (also the Chelsea Hotel or the Chelsea) is a hotel in Manhattan, New York City, built between 1883 and 1885. The 250-unit hotel is located at 222 West 23rd Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, in the neighborhood of Ch ...

in New York City intermittently for 40 years.Levy, Ariel 'New York Storeys' ''The Sunday Times Magazine'', March 25, 2007, pp. 40-51, see page 47.

Death

Ricard died on February 1, 2014 of cancer at

Bellevue Hospital Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States b ...

in New York City at the age of 67.

Books

Art reviews and essays

Selected additional published works

Solo exhibitions

Film performances

Recordings

References

External links

* *
"After The Fall"
Michele Civetta, NYU TSOA * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ricard, Rene 1946 births American male actors American male poets American gay writers American LGBT poets LGBT people from Massachusetts 2014 deaths People from Acushnet, Massachusetts Writers from Boston Writers from New York City 20th-century American poets 20th-century American male writers Deaths from cancer in New York (state)