Brooklyn artist Jonathan Blum is celebrating 60 years around the sun, and Arts Gowanus is marking the milestone with a retrospective exhibition showcasing 40 years of his vibrant, unique work.
The show opened with a reception on June 19 at Arts Gowanus’ temporary space at Gowanus Wharf, located at 240 Third Ave.
Johnny Thornton, executive director of Arts Gowanus, told Brooklyn Paper the organization was excited to celebrate Blum’s milestone birthday, describing his artistic vision as “undeniably Jonathan.”
“It is really fun and interesting to see all of his old work and see how he’s developed over the years as an artist,” Thornton said. “[Jonathan] got a very specific esthetic and vibe. So all of this is so Jonathan, even when it was 30 years ago, you’re like, ‘Yep, that’s Jonathan,’ which is really cool.”
The show blends Blum’s newest work with key pieces from his decades-long career, which began with a cartoon drawing of his own forehead — sketched from the eyes up while he was attending Emerson College/Museum School of Fine Arts in Boston. That sketch sparked Blum’s iconic “forehead portraits” series.
Over the years, Blum has expanded his work — originally focused on mythical rabbis, historical figures, everyday people and animals, often with objects perched on their heads — into full-face portraits.
While his style and technique have evolved, Blum has remained committed to his core objective: creating a well-crafted, arresting image through the lens of his very first forehead portrait. He told Brooklyn Paper that his approach is rooted in a Picasso quote he encountered while living in New Orleans in the late 1980s, which suggests that the “deliberate limitation of options, materials, or techniques can spark more innovative and unexpected ideas and results.”
“If you put restrictions on yourself, you will grow within the restrictions. If you do everything, that means nothing,” Blum explained. “An art teacher of mine in London said, ‘Listen, it’s better to know an inch well than a mile not so well.’”
While Blum has showcased his work in galleries across the United States, Germany, England and Israel, his bread and butter comes from selling directly to the public through street shows, pop-ups, and his iconic Park Slope storefront studio. A neighborhood institution since 2000, the studio operates on an “open by appointment or luck” basis.
“I’ve never sought out the press,” Blum said. “I’ve been in a lot of gallery shows, but I’ve never had a gallery represent me. I’ve just been thinking about my art. I’ve sold in New Orleans on the streets, in Jackson Square, Washington, D.C., and Berlin and Prague. And I’ve always kind of just gone to the street, and I make a living — a good living this way, actually — because people generally like to buy from the artist.”
After working as a professional artist for more than 40 years, Blum said it felt like the right time to take stock and host a retrospective.
“I’m grateful to the people of Arts Gowanus for giving me this opportunity to exhibit a retrospective, which represents 40 years of my work,” he said.
The exhibition also includes one of Blum’s latest paintings: a monoprint collage of Rabbi Matthew Green of Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope. The portrait is part of Blum’s series of rabbi paintings. Known to many as “The Rabbi Painter,” Blum offers a warm and witty counterpoint to more traditional religious depictions.
Green told Brooklyn Paper he shared anecdotes from his life with Blum over a bottle of wine during a late-night painting session — including a childhood fascination with dental floss, which he used to spin into spiderwebs. Inspired by the story, Blum incorporated a spiderweb into the portrait.
“I immediately knew exactly what he was referencing,” Green said. “I also told [Blum], which is kind of hyperbolic, but also true, is that I feel like if someone were to offer a eulogy for me after I die, that [the painting], in some respects, is a visual representation of the eulogy. That’s a really intense thing to say, but it’s true.”
Blum’s retrospective at Gowanus Wharf is free and open to the public daily from 2 to 7 p.m. through July 6, 2025.
