# Rene Ricard

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

## Life and career

Albert Napoleon Ricard was born in Boston and grew up in Acushnet, Massachusetts, near New Bedford. 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. He appeared in the Warhol films Kitchen (1965), Chelsea Girls (1966), and The Andy Warhol Story (1966).
As a performer, Ricard was a founding participant in the Theater of the Ridiculous collaborating with John Vaccaro and Charles Ludlam. He also appeared in the 1980 Eric Mitchell independent film Underground U.S.A. (1980), as well as numerous other independent art and commercial films.
In the 1980s, he wrote a series of influential essays for Artforum magazine. 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 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 Jean-Michel Basquiat in the drawing entitled Untitled (Axe/Rene), representing the tension that existed between the two.
Warhol called Ricard "the George Sanders of the Lower East Side, the Rex Reed of the art world." From the mid-1960s Ricard contributed writings to numerous independent poetry magazines and anthologies. In 1979, the Dia Art Foundation 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 by Nan Goldin 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: 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.
Ricard was portrayed by Michael Wincott in Julian Schnabel's biographical film, Basquiat (1996). He lived at the famed Hotel Chelsea in New York City intermittently for 40 years.

## Death

Ricard died on February 1, 2014, of cancer at Bellevue Hospital in New York City at the age of 67.

## Books

| Year | Title | Publisher | Notes |
| 1979 | Rene Ricard 1979 - 1980 | DIA Art Foundation | Edited by Gerard Malanga |
| 1989 | Francesco Clemente Sixteen Pastels with Poems by Rene Ricard | Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London | Edited by Raymond Foye. Exhibition catalog reproducing leaves of a handmade book by Ricard titled Buried in a Crate. |
| 1989 | God With Revolver: Poems 1979 - 1982 | Hanuman Books | Published and edited by Raymond Foye and Francesco Clemente |
| 1990 | Trusty Sarchopagus Co. | Inanout Press | Designed and edited by Paola Igliori and Michele Zalopany. The book was prepared concurrent with an exhibition of Ricard's painting and visual works at the Peterburg Gallery in NYC. The edition juxtaposes the photographs of the paintings and drawings with transcriptions of the poems rendered within them. |
| 1999 | Love Poems | CUZ Editions | Drawings by Robert Hawkins / Edited by Richard Hell |
| 2003 | Paintings and Drawings | Perceval Press | Reproductions of Ricard's visual works produced over a twenty-year period. |
| 2016 | Rene Ricard Notebook 2010 - 2012 | Morel Books | Facsimile edition of one of Ricard's composition books containing poems, collages, drawings, diary and personal notes. Published posthumously. |
| 2018 | Rene Ricard 1979 - 1980 | Éditions Lutanie | Edited by Manon Lutanie and Rachel Valinsky. Bilingual volume (French/English). |
| 2021 | Time of the Dogs | Innen Books | Edited by Raymond Foye. Posthumously published collection of twenty poems. |
| 2022 | God with Revolver | Editions Lutanie | Edited by Manon Lutanie and Rachel Valinsky. With an introduction by Raymond Foye and an afterword by Patrick Fox. Bilingual volume (French/English). |
| 2023 | Deus de Revólver | Barco Bêbado | Portuguese edition of "God With Revolver." Translation by Luís Lima, with an introduction by Raymond Foye, and cover photos by Rita Barros. |
| 2024 | Love Poems | Editions Lutanie | With drawings by Robert Hawkins. Bilingual edition (French/English), translated by Rachel Valinsky and Manon Lutanie. Includes a newly commissioned afterword by Robert Hawkins retracing his encounter, friendship, and collaboration with Rene Ricard. |

## Art reviews and essays

| Year | Title | Publication | Notes |
| 1977 | Hunt Slonem and Harrison Burns at Fishbach | Art in America, Nov./Dec. 1977 | Review |
| 1978 | Bill Sullivan at Kornblee | Art in America, Sep./Oct. 1978 | Review |
| 1978 | Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe at Miller | Art in America, Sep./Oct. 1978 | Review |
| 1979 | Lynda Benglis at Paula Cooper | Art in America, Jan./Feb. 1979 | Review |
| 1979 | Julian Schnabel's Plate Painting at Mary Boone | Art in America, Nov. 1979 | Review |
| 1979 | The Benois Madonna at Konedler | Art in America, Dec. 1979 | Review |
| 1979 | Peter Hujar at Marcuse Pfeifer | Art in America, Dec. 1979 | Review |
| 1981 | Not About Julian Schnabel | Artforum, Summer 1981 | Picking up where the Art in America Schnabel review ended this essay, Ricard's first full length, established Julian Schnabel as the premier celebrity of the new-New York art scene. Prior to publication of the issue, Ricard was so secretive about the subject of the essay that whenever asked who he was writing about he would reply, "Not about Julian Schnabel!", thus giving the title of the essay. |
| 1981 | The Radiant Child | Artforum, Dec. 1981 | Ricard's landmark essay defined the East Village gallery scene of the early 1980s. This essay is credited with launching the public career of Jean-Michel Basquiat, as well as naming Keith Haring's ubiquitous "crawling baby" character. In addition to Basquiat and Haring, the essay also highlights the work of Judy Rifka, John Ahern, Ronnie Cutrone, Izhar Patkin, Joe Zucker, and other artists showing at the numerous independent New York art exhibitions of the period. |
| 1982 | The Pledge of Allegiance | Artforum, Nov. 1982 | Art essay, East Village gallery scene |
| 1982 | About Julian Schnabel | Julian Schnabel; Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam) | Catalog essay |
| 1982 | Julian Schnabel: The American Sublime | Julian Schnabel; Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam) | Catalog essay |
| 1982 | The Greatest Show On Earth | Judith Rifka; Brooke Alexander Gallery (New York City) | Catalog essay |
| 1984 | Alex Katz Paints a Picture | Alex Katz; Cooper Union (New York City) | Introduction catalog essay for exhibition curated by Rene Ricard |
| 1985 | An Art of Regret | Artforum, Summer 1985 | Essay about the paintings of Brice Marden and Bill Rice |
| 1986 | An Ad for Felix | Artforum, Sep. 1986 | Essay about the paintings of Felix |
| 1987 | Nicolas A. Moufarrege | Nicholas A. Moufarrege; The Institute for Art & Urban Resources / The Clocktower, 1987 | Catalog essay for posthumous exhibition of Moufarrege's thread and pigment on needlepoint canvas paintings, originally written as a memorial / obituary published in 1985 by The Village Voice. |
| 1989 | Les Lecons des Tenebres | William Rand; 56 Bleecker Street Gallery, New York City | Catalog essay |
| 1990 | Zero Mass: The Art of Eric Orr | Anders Tornberg Gallery & AB Propexus | Catalog essay for artist Book by Eric Orr which also includes a multiple made of clay by James Lee Byars; front and back boards of blue steel; "The Matter of O," a rubber-stamped stain of Orr's blood; "Skull Page" made of handmade paper using Kozo fibers; and a powdered mummy skull with red screen printing. |
| 1992 | World Crown© Bodhisattua with Clenched Mudra | Jean-Michel Basquiat; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City | Catalog essay for the first major museum retrospect of Basquiat's work following his untimely death. |
| 1992 | Golden Boy | Vogue, Oct. 1992 | Essay includes Ricard's personal reminiscence of Jean-Michele Basquiat and the New York City art scene of the early 1980s. |
| 1997 | Andy Warhol: Thirty Are Better Than One | Andy Warhol; Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York City | Catalog essay |
| 1997 | No Dice: Recollections of Jack Smith | Artforum, Oct. 1997 | Art essay |
| 1998 | The Autobiography of a Pseudonym | Essay on songwriter, designer, and fine artists Gil Garfield. | Published as a leaflet on the occasion of Garfiled's 1998 exhibition at Louis Stern Fine Arts, Hollywood. |
| 1999 | Pompeiian Styles III - IV and the Paintings of Philip Taaffe | Philip Taaffe; Gagosian Gallery, New York City | Catalog essay |
| 1999 | Studio Visit | Francesco Clemente: A Portrait; Photos Luca Babini (Aperture pub.) | Art essay |
| 2000 | Chronology | Francesco Clemente; Guggenheim Museum, New York City | Ricard drew upon his twenty-year relationship with Clemente to compose a uniquely personal and candid timeline of significant events, public and private, from the artist's life. |
| 2002 | The Profanation of Time | Francesco Clemente; Jablonka Galerie, Cologne | Catalog essay |
| 2002 | Zac Posen: 21 And Getting the Critics All Worked Up | Interview, May 2002 | Essay and interview with fashion designer Zac Posen |
| 2002 | On Ludlow Street | Interview, August 2002 | Magazine article |
| 2002 | Lola Schnabel: Remember Me | Percival Press | Art essay |
| 2004 | Genthara: Luigi Ontani | Luigi Ontani; SMAK, Ghent | Catalog essay |
| 2008 | The Poetry of Everyday Live | Rita Barros; Galeria Pente 10, Lisbon | Catalog essay |
| 2009 | Wall: Rita Barros | Rita Barros; Casa de Cerca – Centro de Arte Contemporanea, Lisbon | Catalog introduction |
| 2012 | Bob Recine: Alchemy of Beauty | Freedman Damiani | Catalog essay |
| 2012 | Art Brocante: The Sculpture of Arch Connelly | Arch Connelly; La Mama Gallery, New York City | Catalog essay |
| 2015 | Jean-Michel Basquiat | Gagosian Gallery / Rizolli | Catalog essay |

## Selected additional published works

| Year | Publication | Title(s) | Format | Notes |
| 1966 | Aspen; Vol I, issue #6 | The Stones Have Begun Making Me Sick | Multi-format magazine | Called "the magazine in a box", each issue of Aspen was a collection of various related publications. The Fab issue, designed by Andy Warhol and David Dalton, contained reproductions of paintings by Warhol, de Kooning, Johns, and others; a flex-disc by The Velvet Underground; a copy of The Exploding Plastic Inevitable newspaper, a flip book of the Jack Smith film Buzzards Over Baghdad and Warhol's Kiss; a Ten Trip Ticket Book printing excerpts from the Berkeley Conference on LSD, and more. For The Exploding Plastic Inevitable, Gerard Malanga contributed an essay on contemporary poetry featuring an otherwise unpublished poem by Ricard, The Stones Have Begun Making Me Sick. |
| 1967 | Harbinger; issue #1 | Baby Jane, Edie Sedgwick, Oh Call It The Squares | Independent film and culture magazine | Single-issue independently published magazine, edited by Gregg Barrios. Cover photo of Andy Warhol and Gerard Malanga. The three early poems are credited to Albert Rene Ricard and do not appear in any other publication. |
| 1967 | Angel Hair; issue #3 | Oh, Visions of Arthur and Party Crash | Poetry magazine | Independently published literary magazine; New York City. Oh was published as a part of Rene Ricard 1979 – 1980. Visions of Arthur later published in Extensions No. 4, 1970. All three poems were also included in The Angel Hair Anthology. |
| 1968 | The World; issue #8 | assignment: Good Poem | Poetry magazine | The World, edited by Anne Waldman, was published by The Poetry Project at Saint Mark's Church, New York City. This poem did not appear in any other publication until its inclusion in the Out Of This World anthology published in 1991. |
| 1969 | Roots Forming; issue #1 | | Poetry magazine | Also includes works by Piero Heliczer, Gerard Malanga, Clark Coolidge, and others. |
| 1970 | The World Anthology | Change Here for All Points | Poetry anthology | An anthology of poems from The Saint Mark's Poetry Project including works by Ted Berrigan, Lewis Warsh, John Ashbery, Allen Ginsberg, Peter Schjeldahl, Jonathan Kundra, Gerard Malanga, Ron Padgett, Joe Brainard, Dian DiPrima, Harris Schiff, FrankO'Hara, Sam Avrams, and others, edited by Anne Waldman. |
| 1970 | Paris Review; summer 1970 | Mannerism | Literary journal | Mannerism later published as part of Rene Ricard 1979 - 1980. |
| 1970 | exTensions; issue #4 | Visions of Arthur | Poetry magazine | Independently published poetry journal; New York City. Other contributors in the issue included Vito Acconci, John Ashbery, Clark Coolidge, Jean Dubuffet, Barbara Guest, Piero Heliczer, Gerard Malanga |
| 1974 | Gay Sunshine; issue #24 | The John in Sterling | Gay rights journal | Gay Sunshine: A Journal of Gay Liberation edited by Winston Leyland out of San Francisco, strongly counter-culture and anti-establishment. This issue features a series of humorous written dialogues collected by Ricard in 1971-72. Titled The John in Sterling, the dialogues are anonymous encounters from the men's room of the Sterling Library at Yale University, written on toilet paper and passed between the stall partitions. This is the only published appearance of this piece. |
| 1977 | Mag City; issue #3 | On Being Called a Dilettante, Caravaggio and His Models and The Slaves of Michelangelo. | Poetry magazine | Mag City was an independent New York poetry magazine published by Gregory Masters, Michael Scholnick and Gary Lenhart from 1976 through 1982. All three of these poems would be published as part of Rene Ricard 1979 - 1980. |
| 1978 | New York Times | I Class Up a Joint | Op-Ed essay | Humorous essay on the topic of work, written for Labor Day. |
| 1978 | Face of the Poet (Alex Katz, Brooke Alexander / Marlborough Graphics) | I remember the little house in the woods | Exhibition catalog | Published catalog of a collection of ten aquatint portraits of poets by Alex Katz, each accompanied with a poem from the respective subjects. Ricard's portrait is paired with his poem I remember the little house in the woods. This poem was also included in "Rene Ricard 1979 – 1980". |
| 1978 | The 4 3 2 Review; issue #7 | On the Tomb of WH | Poetry magazine | The 4 3 2 Review was an independent literary magazine published by Simon Schuchat, New York. Contribution of the poem On the Tomb of WH which also appears as a part of Rene Ricard 1979 – 1980. |
| 1978 | Little Caesar; issue #6 | A Boy and His Dog | Poetry magazine | This issue also includes Grace After A Meal, for John Wieners by John Berrigan, seven poems by John Wieners, as well as contributions by Dennis Cooper, the publisher, Robert Creeley, Gerard Malanga, Rene Ricard, Lita Hornick, among others. |
| 1978 | X magazine; vol. #3 | The Party Manifesto | Art & literature magazine | Published by Collaborative Projects (Colab), NYC. The final issue of X Magazine continued the themes of violence and international terrorism from its predecessors – particularly the Baader-Meinhof group. A mix of pop borrowings and oblique critique, the issue includes "The Party Manifesto" by Rene Ricard, photographs of punk music stars Johnny Rotten and Anya Phillips by Jimmy de Sana, pseudoscientific charts of walking by Cara M. Brownell, photographs of a German war prostitute by Tina Lhotsky, Jean Genet defending the Baader-Meinhof gang, and dialogue between Diego Cortez and a man who claimed to be a Baader-Meinhof member. The issue showed the deep mistrust by Colab members for how media outlets, from mainstream television to magazines, covered events and individuals associated with the underground and political opposition. |
| 1979 | Mag City; issue #6 | WAKE*UP NEW YORK*ATTENTION | Poetry magazine | Contribution of the poem WAKE*UP NEW YORK*ATTENTION. This poem does not appear in any other publication. |
| 1979 | Mag City; issue #8 | The Pledge of Allegiance | Poetry magazine | Magazine contribution of The Pledge of Allegiance. This poem was later published as part of God With Revolver (1989), there dated 1969. |
| 1979 | Dodgems | April 29 | Poetry magazine | Dodgems was an independently published magazine edited by Eileen Myles for Fido Productions, NYC published for a short period in 1979 - 1980. April 29 appears in Rene Ricard 1979 – 1980 under the name Sonnet. |
| 1979 | Little Caesar; issue #9 | | Poetry magazine | Poetry magazine featuring Piero Heliczer; edited by Gerard Malanga with additional contributions by Robert Creeley, Ezra Pound, William Burroughs, Paul Metcalf, Louis Zukofsky, John Weiners, Charles Olson, Ira Cohen, Gregory Corso, Tom Raworth, Clark Coolidge, David Rattray, Anne Waldman, La Monte Young, Dennis Cooper and others. |
| 1981 | Anoir, Eblanc, Irouge, Uvert, Obleu | The Death of Johnny Stompananto | Poetry magazine | Magazine contribution, poem The Death of Johnny Stompanato (Italian translation by Mario Diacono). Johnny Stompanato was the boyfriend of Lana Turner, shot and killed in 1958 by Turner's daughter, Cheryl Crane. Andy Warhol's 1965 film, More Milk Yvette (starring Mario Montez in drag as Lana Turner) was based on the same subject matter. |
| 1983 | Son of the Male Muse: New Gay Poetry | Caravaggio and His Models and I was Born | Poetry anthology | Published by The Crossing Press, edited by Ian Young. Includes two poems by Ricard; Caravaggio and His Models and I was Born. |
| 1984 | Artforum; Nov. 1984 | Caravaggio and His Models | Art journal | Ricard was a frequent contributor of essays to Artforum magazine, here publishing one of his poems. |
| 1984 | Opera of the Worms | | Limited edition folio | Joe Fawbush Editions / Solo Press, 1984. Text by Ricard with illustrations by Judy Rifka. Published in a limited edition of eighty copies signed and numbered by Ricard and Rifka. Publication composed of 23 unbound lithos in a portfolio in slipcase. |
| 1985 | East Village Eye; vol. 7, issue #59 | La Peste | Newspaper | Contribution of Rene Ricard's poem La Peste. The East Village Eye was described as a "community in print" incorporating news, nightclubs, art, film, music, and fashion. |
| 1989 | Parkett; issue #21 | The Pledge of Allegiance | Art and literary journal | Contribution of the poem The Pledge of Allegiance. Due to an editorial error, only the first fifteen lines of the poem were presented. |
| 1989 | Parkett; issue #22 | The Pledge of Allegiance | Art and literary journal | Magazine contribution of the poem The Pledge of Allegiance, presented in both English and a German translation along with the following note: "Because of a technical error, Rene Ricard's poem 'The Pledge of Allegiance' was not published in its complete form in our last issue. We would like to apologize to the author." The poem, composed in 1969, was also published as part of God With Revolver. Ricard used the same title for his essay about graffiti artists published by Artform magazine in 1982. |
| 1989 | Keith Haring: Eight Ball | La Peste | Artist's book | Artist's book created on the occasion of Haring's 30th birthday and published by ArT Random. In Haring's own words, "It was constructed like a kind of game. First I went through drawers full of old mementos, newspaper clippings and drawings that I had saved and found ones that were particularly interesting to me. Then, they were randomly glued onto the 20 sheets of paper which measured to correspond to the side of a double-page spread in the book. After this, I pained the papers with red and green gouache. Finally, with black sumi ink, I 'finished' each of the drawings." Filling two pages of the book is Rene Ricard's poem La Peste, originally published in The East Village Eye. A single line of La Peste was published independently under the title Love in God With Revolver. |
| 1990 | The New Censorship | The Pledge of Allegiance, God With Revolver and The Dog. | Literary journal | Self-described as "The Monthly Journal of the Next Savage State", this issue featured three Ricard poems, in addition to the poem For Rene Ricard by Robert Creeley and a photograph of Ricard by Allen Ginsberg. |
| 1990 | Julian Schnabel Sculpture, Pace Gallery | Imagination | Exhibition catalog | Catalog contribution of the poem Imagination, also published as part of Trusty Sarcophagus Co., |
| 1991 | Lacanina Ink; issue #3 | Paintings: It's Small for a Shoe (1989), Poison (1990), and Mal de Fin (1990) | Literary journal | Illustrations of three of Ricard's paintings. |
| 1991 | Tema Celeste; issue #29 | Painting: Poison (1990) | Arts journal | Magazine color reproduction of Ricard painting Poison (1990). The version of the painting featured is different from that published in Trusty Sarcophagus Co.. |
| 1991 | Out Of This World: The Poetry Project at the St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery, An Anthology 1966-1991 | Assignment: Good Poem | Poetry anthology | Crown Publishers. A comprehensive anthology of poetry published in The World, edited by Anne Waldman. Includes Ricard's assignment: Good Poem. |
| 1992 | Joe's, magazine, Issue #1 | Painting Holy Smoke reproduced for the cover | Art, photography, fashion & culture magazine | Edited by stylist Joe McKenna |
| 2001 | The Angel Hair Anthology | Oh, Visions of Arthur and Party Crash | Poetry anthology | Anthology presents material selected from the collection of Angel Hair magazine and books edited by Anne Waldman and Lewis Warsh between 1966 and 1978. Includes three poems by Rene Ricard: Oh, Visions of Arthur and Party Crash. |
| 2004 | Cecil | Cecil | Limited edition book | Shivastan Publishing; Woodstock, NY / Kathmandu, Nepal. Poem by Ricard paired with traditional Nepali illustrations, printed in a limited edition of 250 copies on handmade paper. Also offered in a limited edition broadside print. |
| 2010 | Live Mag!; issue #8 | The Years Like Days | Poetry magazine | Art and poetry magazine edited by Jeffrey Cyphers Wright. |
| 2010 | In Daddy's Hand | In Daddy's Hand | Limited edition book | Rene Ricard & Rita Barros. Poem by Ricard paired with vintage photographs from the collection of Barros. Handmade artist's book, printed in a limited edition of 50 copies. |
| 2012 | Live Mag!; issue #9 | Suicide | Poetry magazine | Art and poetry magazine edited by Jeffrey Cyphers Wright. |
| 2012 | Night and Day; David Armstrong | Night and Day | Artist's book | Book of David Armstrong photographs, includes reproduction of handwritten poem and cover design by Ricard. Morel Books; edition of 1,000. |
| 2015 | Four by Two | Previously unavailable poems/two postcards of his painted poems | Poetry magazine | Four by Two was a handmade miniature literary magazine overseen by poet klipschutz. |

## Solo exhibitions

| Year | Exhibition | Gallery | Notes |
| 1990 | Paintings 1989 – 1990 | Petersburg Gallery, New York City | |
| 2003 | Rene Ricard Paintings | Cheim & Read, New York City | |
| 2008 | What Every Young Sissy Should Know | Scream Gallery, London | Vito Schnabel presentation |
| 2009 | The Torturer's Apprentice | Half Gallery, New York City | |
| 2011 | Sonnets from the Portugues | Vito Schnabel Presents, New York City | |
| 2012 | Go Mae West, Young Man | Vito Schnabel Presents, Los Angeles | |
| 2012 | New Paintings and Not So New | Highlight Gallery, San Francisco | Vito Schnabel presentation |
| 2017 | So, who left who? | Half Gallery, New York City | Posthumous exhibition of paintings and drawings |
| 2019 | But you love me... you said so | Half Gallery, New York City | Posthumous exhibition of paintings and drawings |
| 2021 | Growing Up in America | Vito Schnabel Gallery, New York City | Posthumous exhibition of paintings and drawings |
| 2022 | Nightcrawlers | Little House Gallery, Los Angeles | Posthumous exhibition of paintings and drawings |

## Film performances

| Year | Title | Director | Format | Notes |
| 1965 | Queen of the Night Gotta Box of Light | Saul Levine | 16 mm, black & white, silent, 4 minutes | Starring Vivian Kurz, with Ivan Cohn, Andrew Meyer and Rene Ricard. In this impressionistic portrait Kurz, Cohn, Meyer and Ricard are shown hanging out at Kurz's Cambridge apartment getting high. The theme centers around a light box made by Gert Stern and Andrew Meyer. Director Saul Levine is a widely respected filmmaker and considered to be a master of the 8 mm and 16 mm formats. He has been making films for four decades and is currently a professor of filmmaking at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. |
| 1965 | Kitchen | Andy Warhol | 16 mm, black & white, 66 minutes | Theater of the Ridiculous playwright Ronald Tavel scripted this absurdist satire on the bourgeois household. The filming takes place in a real kitchen, with Edie Sedgwick and Roger Trudeau playing an unhappy married couple. The action is interrupted by various chaotic activities: the running of a blender which drowns out the dialogue, the continual sneezing of Sedgwick and her co-stars, the bustling activities of a house boy, played by Rene Ricard, and appearances by photographer David McCabe, who repeatedly strides onto the set to take pictures of the actors. At the end of the film, Sedgwick burns her finger and Warhol and his colleagues appear on camera. |
| 1966 | Screen Test: Rene Ricard | Andy Warhol | 16 mm, black & white, silent, 4 minutes | Between 1964 and 1966 Andy Warhol pioneered a unique type of cinematic portraiture. In the screen tests, Warhol adopted a consistent, disarmingly straightforward approach in which each subject was asked to sit motionless before his stationary camera. Eerily compelling, these screen tests testify to the inexhaustible fascination with the human persona that fueled Warhol's portrait investigations in photography, painting, and film. |
| 1966 | Chelsea Girls | Andy Warhol | 16 mm, black & white, 195/210 minutes | Warhol's most famous film, is a series of twelve uncut reels each depicting the goings-on in a different room of the Chelsea Hotel. The reels are projected side-by-side creating a fascinating split-screen effect. The first of Warhol's films to receive a commercial release. Directed, produced, and photographed by Andy Warhol; Written by Ronald Tavel and Andy Warhol; Music: The Velvet Underground; With: Ondine, International Velvet, Nico, Eric Emerson, Gerard Malanga, Rene Ricard, Mary Woronov, Brigid Polk, Ed Hood, Patrick Fleming, Pepper Davis, and Mario Montez. |
| 1966 | An Early Clue to a New Direction | Andrew Meyer / Victor Hack | 16 mm, black & white, 28 minutes | Featuring Joy Bang, Prescott Townsend, Rene Ricard. Music by the Unidentified Flying Objects. Award: First Prize, Ann Arbor Film Festival, 1967 / Exhibition: Int'l Festival of Short Films, London; Film Theatre, 1968 / Collection: British Film Institute |
| 1966 | Hall of Mirrors | Walter Sonbert | 16 mm, black & white/color, 7 minutes | Warren Sonbert (1947 - 1995), an independent filmmaker renowned for his avant-garde, diarist style, began producing films in 1966. This film is an outgrowth of one of Sonbert's film classes at NYU in which he was given out takes from a 1947 Hollywood murder film photographed by Hal Mohr to re-edit into a narrative sequence. Adding to the footage, Sonbert filmed Rene Ricard at home and Gerard Malanga at a show of Lucas Samaras's 'Hall of Mirrors'. |
| 1966 | The Andy Warhol Story | Andy Warhol | 16 mm, black & white | Notoriously unreleased (lost) film in which both Ricard and Sedgwick viciously imitate Warhol. |
| 1967 | B.O.N.Y. (aka Boys of New York) | Gregg Barrios | 16 mm, black & white | Cast: Gerard Malanga, Rene Ricard, Ivy Nicholson (Vogue model) and Leonard Cohen (singer). |
| 1967 | Joan of Arc | Piero Heliczer | Color with sound on tape; 11 minutes | Poet turned filmmaker, Piero Heliczer was among the most notable of underground directors of the mid '60s. In a cast that included Ira Cohen, Gerard Malanga, Jack Smith, and Andy Warhol, Rene Ricard played the title role of Joan of Arc dressed as a 1950s French maid. |
| 1967 | **** (aka Four Stars) | Andy Warhol | 16 mm, 1500 minutes | Warhol's ambitious follow-up to Chelsea Girls, **** [aka Four Stars] consisted of 94 color sound half-hour reels projected superimposed two at a time over a continuous span of 25 hours, shown only once in its entirety in December 1967. The cast consisted of all the Warhol superstar regulars; Allen Midgette, International Velvet, Edie Sedgwick, Christian Aaron Boulogne, Eric Emerson, Gerard Malanga, Nico, Ondine, Rona Page, Brigid Polk, Ingrid Superstar, Mary Woronov, Tiger Morse, Waldo Diaz Balart, Marcia Trinder, Johanna Lawrencon, Katrina Toland, Ultra Violet, Baby Jane Holzer, Rene Ricard, Ivy Nicholson, Rodney Kitzmiller, Roger Trudeau, Patrick Fleming, Ed Hood, Susan Pile, John Cale, Paul Morrisey, Ronnie Cutrone, Freddy Herko, Nick Cernovich, Ray Johnson, La Monte Young, Yvonne Rainer, Billy Name. |
| 1968 | Pre-Raphaelite Dream | Gerard Malanga | 16 mm | Cast included: Loulou de la Falaise, International Velvet, John Weiners, Emma Malagna, Mario Anniballi, and Rene Ricard. |
| 1973 | An American Family | Craig Gilbert | Television documentary series | An American Family, the 1973 cinema verité production that followed the lives of Bill and Pat Loud of Santa Barbara, Calif., and their five children: Michele, Delilah, Grant, Kevin and Lance. The 12 hour PBS series, a precursor to today's "reality" television shows, created a stir by documenting the troubles of one American family, bringing to hundreds of thousands of living rooms scenes of Bill and Pat Loud's crumbling marriage and Lance's evolving decision to declare openly he was gay. Rene Ricard makes appears in two episodes. |
| 1978 | Sleepless Nights | Becky Johnston | Super 8 mm; 49 minutes | Written by Becky Johnson and Gary Indiana. Original score by John Lurie. Cast included: John Lurie, Eric Mitchell, Maripol, and Rene Ricard. |
| 1979 | Red Italy | Eric Mitchell | Black & white, 55 minutes | Second feature film by director Eric Mitchell is a Bertolucci-style story of a bored, rich woman looking for romance and adventure. Cast includes Jennifer Miro, Patti Astor, Harold Vogl, Scott Wardell, Tom Wright, John Lurie, Arto Lindsay, Eric Mitchell, Rene Ricard, Gordon Stevenson, Johnny O'Kane, and James Nares. Rene Ricard plays a manipulative boyfriend in a scene with Jennifer Miro (filmed at the El Quixote restaurant in the Chelsea Hotel). |
| 1980 | Underground USA | Eric Mitchell | Color, 85 minutes | "Street hustler Mitchell forces his way into the life of has-been movie star Astor. Rambling but fascinating; a sort of punk rock Sunset Boulevard". - Leonard Maltin Cast: Patti Astor, Eric Mitchell, Rene Ricard, Tom Wright, Cookie Mueller, Jackie Curtis, Taylor Mead, Steven Meisel |
| 1995 | On Seventh Avenue | Jeff Bleckner | Television pilot, 97 minutes | A fashion designer desperately attempts to rescue her father's apparel business, left in shambles by her brother. Rene Ricard in a role as a journalist. The NBC television network passed on developing the pilot into a series. Broadcast on NBC as a made-for-television movie in 1996. |
| 1999 | After the Fall | Michele Civetta | 16 mm, color, 10 minutes | A father grieves over the loss of his wife after his indiscretions with a young girl. Rene Ricard plays the protagonist of the film and appears in every scene. Student film directed by Civetta while at New York University. Michele Civetta's later directing credits include an ambitious ad for Diesel Jeans and numerous music videos, including those for Lou Reed and Sparkle Horse. |
| 2010 | You Won't Miss Me | Ry Russo-Young | Color, 81 minutes | A kaleidoscopic film portrait of Shelly Brown, a twenty-three-year-old alienated urban misfit recently released from a psychiatric hospital. Starring Stella Schnabel, featuring Rene Ricard and introducing other notable New York personalities. |
| 2014 | Asthma | Jake Hoffman | Color | Directing debut by Jake Hoffman (son of Dustin Hoffman). Ricard plays an extravagantly over-the-top drug dealer named Juan. |

## Recordings

| Year | Title | Publisher | Notes |
| 1980 | Sugar, Alcholol & Meat: The Dial-A-Poet Poems | Giorno Poetry Systems | A double L.P. album; includes readings by Kathy Acker, Miguel Algarin, Beth Anderson, John Ashbey, Barbara Barg, Regina Beck, Charles Bernstein, Ted Berrigan, William S. Burroughs, William S. Burroughs Jr., John Cage, Tom Carey, Charlotte Carter, Didi Susan Dubelyew, Cliff Fyman, Allen Ginsberg, John Giorno, Daniera Gioseff, Bernard Heidsiek, Peter Gordon, Bob Holman, Rochelle Kraut, Mitchelle Kreigman, Steve MaCaffery, Robin Messing, Charlie Morrow, Eileen Myles, The Nuyorican Poets, Miguel Pinero, Ron Padgett, Patti Smith, Gary Snyder, Ned Sublette, Paul Violi, Andrei Vosnesensky, Anne Waldman. Rene Ricard reads Rene Ricard Famous at 20, recorded at The Saint Mark's Church New Year's Benefit, Entermedia Theater, New York City on January 1, 1979; a version of which was published in Rene Ricard 1979 - 1980 as The Party Manifesto. |
| 2001 | "Give Me Your Hump!" The Unspeakable Terry Southern Record | Koch Records | A collection of pieces by literary satirist Terry Southern, best known as the co-author of Dr. Stranglove. Contains a recording (c. 1990) of Terry Southern, Allen Ginsberg and Rene Ricard reading from Flash & Filigree (The Critic; 11:27 minutes). |