David B. Smith (b. 1977, Washington, D.C.) is a multi-disciplinary artist, who works in fabric-based photo-sculpture, sound and performance. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Early life

Born and raised in Washington D.C., Smith attended

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

and graduated with a BA in Art History in 1999. The following year he moved to Chicago, and relocated to New York in 2001. He received an MFA in Photography from

Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic ...

in 2007.

Career

Smith’s work has appeared in exhibitions at

MoMa PS1 MoMA PS1 is a contemporary art institution located in Court Square in the Long Island City neighborhood in the borough of Queens, New York City. In addition to its exhibitions, the institution organizes the Sunday Sessions performance series, th ...

The International Center of PhotographyAsia Song SocietyJohannes Vogt GalleryEssex Flowers56 Henry GalleryThe Spring / Break Art Show
and the 2008 Beijing Triennial. He has been a Visiting Artist at

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-United States Secretary of the Treasu ...

ITP Program and ICP/Bard College, and taught at

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...

and

SUNY Old Westbury The State University of New York College at Old Westbury (SUNY at Old Westbury) is a public college in Old Westbury, New York, with portions in the neighboring town of Jericho, New York. It enrolls just over 5,000 students. History The State Uni ...

. In 2019, his work was part of the Textile Biennial at the Rijswijk Museum in the Netherlands. His work has been discussed in The Observer, Art Fag City, VICE,

Time Out New York ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

, and in the New York Times.

Influences

Textiles, soft sculpture and folk art practices influence Smith’s works, and he often blends these forms within a single piece. Speculative fiction and comic book narratives are a lens through which Smith creates, and his works imagine future worlds, creatures, and societies as a way to envision decolonized space and reinvestigate notions of race, climate change and alternate states of consciousness. Smith writes:

''“Sci-fi narratives are very compelling to me - imagining stories and persons, objects and creatures from other planets, VR realities, or star systems. Digital technologies and image gathering help reveal these worlds and continue a line of artistic questioning and layering until I get work that exists in a 3D - an interactive and physically relational element, creating viewer interconnectivity....revealing worlds and selves that might be hidden beneath historical and preconceived notions of what something is to invite the question of what something could be.”''

Creation process

For Smith, every object, person or memory is informed by a cultural landscape, made of images, lived experiences, memories, gestures, and sound. He playfully offers the range of possibility within these experiences by bending, folding, and layering textiles with digital, sonic, found, and created images. The resulting works are referential and unfamiliar, creating a discombobulating effect for the viewer, whether a soft sculpture, a sound score or a performance.

Collections

Peggy Cooper Cafritz Peggy Cooper Cafritz (born Pearl Alice Cooper; April 7, 1947 – February 18, 2018) was an American art collector, educator, civil rights activist, philanthropist, and socialite. Early life and education Family life Born Pearl Alice Cooper, P ...

Beth Rudin DeWoody
*

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

Residencies

* Textiles Arts Center, New York, NY, 2019 * Marble House Project, Dorset, VT, 2018 *

Socrates Sculpture Park Socrates Sculpture Park is an outdoor museum and public park where artists can create and exhibit sculptures and multi-media installations. It is located one block from the Noguchi Museum at the intersection of Broadway and Vernon Boulevard in th ...

, Queens, NY, 2017 *

Franconia Sculpture Park Franconia Sculpture Park is an outdoor sculpture park in Franconia, Minnesota, United States, that offers a 50-acre outdoor museum, active artist residency program, and a depth and breadth of community arts programming for a diverse and engaged p ...

, Shafer, MN, 2016 * Apex Art International Fellow, New Zealand, 2015

Solo exhibitions

*
Cloudminders
'' Geary Contemporary, NY, 2019 *
Cave Dwellers
'' Spring / Break Art Fair, NY, 2019 *
Soft Bodies
', Halsey McKay Gallery, East Hampton, 2018 *
Under the Surface
'' LMAK Gallery, New York, NY, 2018 *
Sampler
'' Planthouse Gallery, New York, NY, 2018 *
The Unseen
', Halsey McKay Gallery, NY, NY, 2016 *
Extruded Daydream
'' Spring / Break Art Show, NY, 2016
''Seeing Backwards''
Calico Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 2015

Group exhibitions

* ''Textile Biennial,'' Museum Rijswijk, Netherlands, 2019 * ''Psychedelic Healing Center'', Essex Flowers, New York, NY, 2019 * ''The Socrates Annual,'' Socrates Sculpture Park, Queens, NY, 2017 * ''In Search of Lost Time'', International Center of Photography, Manhattan, NY, 2017 * ''Thread by Thread'', LMAK Gallery, New York, NY 2017 * ''Olympia’s Eyes,'' Zevitas Marcus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 2016 * ''Mi Casa, Tu Casa'', Johannes Vogt Gallery, New York, 2016 * ''reMap 4'', Athens, Greece, 2013 * ''Fuel for the Fire'', Zwirner Gallery, New York, NY, 2012 * ''Fall Collection,'' MoMa PS1, Queens, New York, 2009 * ''Waterways'', Venice, Italy, 2005

Art fairs

* NADA Miami, Halsey McKay Gallery, 2019 * Dallas Art Fair, Halsey McKay Gallery, 2017 * Art Brussels, Johannes Vogt Gallery, 2016

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, David B. 1977 births Living people American contemporary artists Artists from Washington, D.C.