Artist Statement:
Michael Smith
The source material for most of the images that appear in my work come from a memory of a particular place, a specific event, or a certain time in my life. Most of the images first begin as quick drawings in a sketchbook. I am not partial to where new things come from because objects and forms have caught my attention in all sorts of different and unexpected places - such as an advertisement in an airport, a scene in a movie, a pattern on rug, the design of a candlestick, iron railings or a modern building. I often do not have my sketchbook with me at the time when the objects first catch my attention, so the initial drawings tend to be, at best, memories of reality. I often redraw the same image over and over, sometimes putting it away for a while and then returning to it with an even more distant memory of what it looked like in its original context. The newest forms and lines that have found their way into my work come from overhead observations of landforms as seen from airplanes. I was initially trained as a printmaker, and because of that I am drawn to graphic designs and patterning Ð such as the lines of a plowed field, the arrangement of a golf course, playing fields, suburban housing developments or the snaking and splitting of rivers. The new landforms are incorporated with the older images and the memories of time and place coexist to make small stage settings. The works do not tell any particular story but for me are a reminder of marked time. Over time the images change, as does most everything and everyone. For me, there is plenty of truth in the statement that art often imitates life, because everything that eventually finds its way into my prints and paintings comes from a very specific source that I have somehow stumbled upon Ð most of the time without even looking. The images have an uncertain life span, living among other forms both younger and older and eventually leaving to make room for new experiences and observations. For me, this is a lot like life.
Michael S. Smith
Education
M.F.A., 1987
Temple University Abroad, Tyler School of Art
Rome, Italy
Tyler School of Art, Temple University
Philadelphia, PA
Ecole des Beaux Arts, 1983-84
Paris, France
B.F.A., 1983
The University of Michigan, School of Art
Ann Arbor, MI
2005 Recent Prints and Paintings
JMS Gallery LLC
Chestnut Hill, PA
2004 Dear Fleisher
Invitational Exhibition of Original Art in Postcard Format
Philadelphia, PA
2001 Four Printmakers
Ronald Abram, Carson Fox, Michael Smith, Ron Wyfels
Valencia Community College - East Campus
Orlando, FL
Guest Curator: Michael Smith
1999-2000 5th Annual Faculty Invitational
Valencia Community College - East Campus
Orlando, FL
1999 20 x 12: A Generation of Challenge Artists
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial
Philadelphia, PA
1996 Recent Prints and Paintings
Owen-Patrick Gallery
Manayunk, PA
1995 Fourscore and Forthcoming
80th Anniversary Exhibition
Philadelphia Art Alliance
Philadelphia, PA
1994 Recent Prints and Paintings
Synderman Gallery
Philadelphia, PA
1993 Inaugural Exhibition
Brandywine Workshop
Philadelphia, PA
Eighth National Print Exhibition
Payne Gallery, Moravian College
Bethleham, PA
Juror: Claire Romano
1992 Emerging Philadelphia Artists
Owen-Patrick Gallery
Manayunk, PA
Prints Invitational
Silverman Galleries, Silverman Guild Art Center
New Canan, CT
Juror: Gabor Peterdi
1991 In Our Circle
The James A. Michener Art Museum
Doylestown, PA
Jurors: Edward Cooke, Associate Curator of American Decorative Arts and
Sculpture, Boston Museum of Art
Peter Bloom, Director, Allentown Art Museum
1991 National Printmaking Exhibition
Trenton State College
Trenton, NJ
Juror: Richard Haas
1990 65th Annual International Competition
The Print Club
Philadelphia, PA
Juror: Michael Mazur
1990 Fleisher Challenge Exhibition
Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial
Philadelphia, PA
Administered by the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Allentown Art Museum 22nd Show
Allentown, PA
Juror: Lynn Zelevansky, Department of Prints and Sculpture,
Museum of Moden Art, New York, NY
1989 Biennial '89
Delaware Art Museum
Wilmington, DE
Juror: John Perreault, Art Critic, Village Voice
1988 New Prints Northwest
Women's Studio Workshop
Rosendale, NY
CIGNA Museum and Art Collection, CIGNA Corporation, Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia, PA