The Art of Zarum
Biography
Growing up in the multicultural city of Toronto, Canada exposed Zarum to many cultures, languages and customs which sparked his curiosity and opened his mind early in life to seek and learn more about the differences in people that made up the world in which we live in. This road would be long and would ultimately bring to light not so much the differences of people and cultures, but rather the similarities that we all have in common. Eventually, this view would find itself in his art.
The love of music and art came naturally to Zarum having grown up with a Father and Mother who both sang, a Flamenco guitarist for an Uncle and Cousins who played piano and guitar professionally. As such music came first. Self taught on the guitar and a natural vocal talent, Zarum first stepped into a recording studio at the age of 16 where he recorded a 45 single of two original songs he had composed. Shortly thereafter he formed a group and began to play bars and clubs and concerts throughout Canada.
Art was a natural extension of his talents. Zarum began buying art at auctions and painting in 1986. He was drawn to the works of Miro, Kandinsky, Picasso, Gris, Dali, Appel, Kahlo, Chagall, Ernst, and Bacon. At auctions he bought works of Vasarely, Leger, Shemy, and Agam, to name a few. It was at this time that he first took up a brush and began to paint. Early works were free form abstracts and visions of images which were set down on canvas. Many of these early works were unfortunately damaged and/or stolen, including some of his art collection, during a move back to his home town of Toronto from Miami, where Zarum lived for 3 years between 1993 and 1996. It would be 10 years before Zarum would return to his passion for art and music with a focus and drive to make these a central part of his life.
For many years after the move back to Toronto Zarum involved himself with several business enterprises which occupied a great deal of his time and caused him to travel extensively throughout the United States, Europe and the Middle East. In the late 90’s he began to paint again while in the process of recording an album. The passion was still there, but the technique had developed from the earlier works. Zarum now painted transformations of things he saw around him. The style was original. It was fresh. It was profound. While all artists are influenced by other artists, Zarum had stepped away from his early influences for so many years that when he picked up the brush again what emerged was truly “his”. Untainted and true. He began exhibiting his works, but it would not be until his travels and subsequent move to Amsterdam, The Netherlands in 2002 that his passion for his art became all consuming.
A friend from Amsterdam who owned a grand and magnificent historical property in the Costa Blanca region of Spain had invited Zarum for a visit. In early 2003 Zarum made the trip to Spain and immediately had the feeling that he was “home”. This could probably be explained by the Spanish roots from his Mother’s side of the family, and his exposure to Spanish music while growing up. Zarum began to spend extended periods on his friend’s estate. It was here during the winter of 2004/2005 that Zarum, alone in this 2000 square meter, 300 year old Spanish estate, began work on his FACES series of paintings which were shown several months later in an exhibition in Amsterdam.
Zarum found so much inspiration in Spain that he continued to create many of his extensive body of works there. Setting up a new studio in Jijona, Spain, under the ruines of a Moorish Castle. Zarum begain work on some of his most colorful and large canvases.
In 2009 Zarum returned to Canada where he promptly began to assemble property on the 'Millionaires Row' of lakefront properties on the largest lake a short one hours drive from downtown Toronto. Today this estate is the largest waterfront estate of it's kind on the lake. In 2017 Zarum completed the construction of a grand Landmark waterfront home on the estate complete with his new studio where he continues to create and market his collectable works of art.
Zarum belongs to a very small number of artists who have been able to build their careers, achieve a following, and sell their works for ever increasing sums primarily by word of mouth and on the strength of their work, rather than the conventional gallery association. Zarum feels that now is the time to couple that success with a select group of galleries on several continents. Zarum says, “I am excited with the feedback we have had from several galleries and think it would be fun, and profitable to work with like-minded professionals on the marketing end. I have a lot of ideas and the flow of my productivity is as high as ever. When you add my self imposed discipline for work and my drive, the future is going to be a blast.”
