Gary Edward Blum was born in Montara, California, a coastal town 30 minutes south of San Francisco. He has spent the better part of two decades exploring duality through his paintings and photography. The grandson of both Italian and Swiss immigrants, Blum was surrounded by stories of exploration and independence as a child. In 2000, he traveled to India, where he was exposed to Eastern philosophy and religion. Upon his return, he began to cultivate the ideas of dependent opposition and meditation in his work, which are still evident today.

He earned an M.F.A. from the University of California, Berkeley in 2002, a B.A. in Graphic Design from California State University, Chico in 1993, and more recently, was an affiliate artist at the Headlands Center for the Arts from 2015 to 2017.

Blum's work has been exhibited throughout the United States and can be found in the permanent collections of the Crocker Art Museum and the Monterey Museum of Art. His work has also been reviewed in publications such as the LA Times, SF Chronicle, and Art in America.