Blum & Poe

BLUM & Poe is a renowned contemporary art gallery with locations in Los Angeles, Tokyo, and New York. Founded in 1994 by Tim Blum and Jeff Poe, the gallery has played a significant role in shaping the trajectory of contemporary art by championing artists at all stages of their careers and cultivating a diverse roster of artists from around the world.

Before returning to Los Angeles, Blum spent several years in Tokyo, where he met artists Yoshitomo Nara and Takashi Murakami. These relationships led to the gallery's early commitment to representing Japanese artists and playing a crucial role in introducing their work to international audiences. In 2010, BLUM & Poe held a solo exhibition of Lee Ufan, the influential Korean artist and theorist of Mono-ha, a loose group of Tokyo-based artists who established themselves in the late 1960s. The gallery also organized the first survey of Mono-ha in the United States, "Requiem for the Sun," in 2012, which included major installations by Kōji Enokura, Noriyuki Haraguchi, Susumu Koshimizu, Lee Ufan, Nobuo Sekine, Kishio Suga, Jiro Takamatsu, and Katsurō Yoshida.

In addition to its focus on Asian artists, BLUM & Poe has been a pioneer in its early commitment to Los Angeles as an international arts capital. The gallery has nurtured the careers of some of the most exciting and famous artists on the planet, including Mark Grotjahn, Yoshitomo Nara, Takashi Murakami, Henry Taylor, Friedrich Kunath, Asuka Anastacia Ogawa, Anna Park, and Umar Rashid. The gallery has also been acclaimed for its groundbreaking work in championing artists of Korean and Japanese postwar and contemporary movements, such as Tansaekhwa, Mono-ha, and Superflat.

BLUM & Poe has organized museum-caliber solo presentations and historical survey exhibitions across its spaces in Los Angeles, Tokyo, and New York, often partnering with renowned curators and scholars. The gallery has also presented retrospectives of late artists such as American painter Robert Colescott and multidisciplinary artist Thornton Dial.

In 2023, Jeff Poe stepped back from his role, and Tim Blum took over as the spearhead of the gallery's global team, with Matt Bangser appointed as the Managing Partner. Under Blum's leadership, the gallery will continue to build on its history of championing international artists and its commitment to presenting groundbreaking exhibitions and projects.