Randall Schmit (born 1955) is a contemporary American artist of
Luxembourger
Luxembourgers ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerger ) are a Germanic ethnic group and nation native to their nation state of Luxembourg, where they make up around half of the population. They share the culture of Luxembourg and speak Luxembourgish.
Luxembour ...
painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...
.
Biography
Visual artist Randall Schmit was born in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area. and grew up along the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...
. After initial studies in architecture at Texas A&M University, Schmit began to paint, and was Studio Assistant to abstract colorist,
Ray Parker (painter)
Raymond Parker (1922-1990) was an Abstract expressionist painter who also is associated with Color Field painting and Lyrical Abstraction. Ray Parker was an influential art teacher and an important Color Field painter and an instrumental figur ...
during the late-seventies and early eighties in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
Hudson, New York
Hudson is a city and the county seat of Columbia County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 5,894. Located on the east side of the Hudson River and 120 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, it was named for the rive ...
at the David Bruner Gallery (2010) and at McDaris Fine Art (2013), both on Warren Street; and a (2014) solo exhibition in
Woodstock, NY
Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, NY. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 in 2000. ...
, at the Woodstock Artists Association Museum (W.A.A.M.) on Tinker Street.
The artist has lived and worked in the
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...
of New York since the early 2000s.
Influences
In addition to the obvious influences of
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
Robert Motherwell
Robert Motherwell (January 24, 1915 – July 16, 1991) was an American Abstract Expressionism, abstract expressionist Painting, painter, printmaker, and editor of ''The Dada Painters and Poets: an Anthology''. He was one of the youngest of th ...
Graffiti artists
Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
is also seen in Schmit's early work.
According to museum curator Lowery Stokes Sims, Schmit has been "fascinated with cartoons, which have been a starting point in his early work, and has incorporated comic imagery into his work" since at least the early 1980s.
Whether from his childhood in Louisiana, or the influence of Parker's musical interests, Schmit has long held an interest in jazz music, and was included in the important 1997 Smithsonian traveling exhibition, Seeing Jazz ', alongside a quote from jazz composer,
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...
.
Drawing with
graphite
Graphite () is a crystalline form of the element carbon. It consists of stacked layers of graphene. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Synthetic and natural graphite are consumed on large ...
and
acrylic paint
Acrylic paint is a fast-drying paint made of pigment suspended in acrylic polymer emulsion and plasticizers, silicone oils, defoamers, stabilizers, or metal soaps. Most acrylic paints are water-based, but become water-resistant when dry. Depe ...
over snipped images from art magazines, science fiction
ephemera
Ephemera are transitory creations which are not meant to be retained or preserved. Its etymological origins extends to Ancient Greece, with the common definition of the word being: "the minor transient documents of everyday life". Ambiguous in ...
, movie and other books and magazines, Schmit has worked with collage since 1991. During a visit to Istanbul, Turkey in 2000, Schmit studied the historic
mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
s installed within the ancient architecture there. He exhibited an important group of collage paintings a Galerie Apel in Istanbul that year. These works are psychedelic in nature, with swirling
comic
a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...
and
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
imagery woven into
web
Web most often refers to:
* Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal
* World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system
Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to:
Computing
* WEB, a literate programming system created by ...
-like trails and gestures of paint that bind disparate images together as one entity.
Education
Schmit entered
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
as a student of
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
. He soon migrated to the department of fine arts there, where he graduated with BFA and MFA degrees in
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...
. He also studied painting during 1979-1981 at
Empire State College
Empire State College (SUNY Empire or ESC) is a public university headquartered in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. Empire State College is a multi-site institution offering associate, ...
at the
State University of New York
The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by c ...
. The artist currently lives and works in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
* 2017 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Individual Artist Grant, New York, NY
* 2014 Adolph & Esther Gottlieb Foundation Individual Support Grant, New York, NY
* 2013 The Artist’s Resource Trust Award , Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, Columbia County, NY
* 2013 Scholarship/Travel Sponsorship/Cultural Research and Study in Havana, CUBA by the American Friends of
The Ludwig Foundation of Cuba
The Ludwig Foundation of Cuba (LFC) is a non-governmental, non-profit institution located in Havana, Cuba, created with the mission of protecting and promoting Cuban artists in Cuba and internationally.
History
After seeing an exhibition of Cu ...
Abstract Expressionism
Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
*
Comic art
''Comic Art'' was a magazine, founded and edited by Todd Hignite, which surveyed newspaper comic strips, magazine cartoon panels and comic book art, both historical and contemporary.
History and profile
''Comic Art'' was established in 2002. Th ...
Art in America
''Art in America'' is an illustrated monthly, international magazine concentrating on the contemporary art world in the United States, including profiles of artists and genres, updates about art movements, show reviews and event schedules. It i ...
ARTFORUM
''Artforum'' is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art. The magazine is distinguished from other magazines by its unique 10½ x 10½ inch square format, with each cover often devoted to the work of an artist. Notabl ...
, Vol XXXIII, No 3, November 1994, p. 88.
* Randall Schmit,
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
, June 10, 1991, p. 17.
* Heartney, Eleanor, Randall Schmit at E.M.Donahue,
Art in America
''Art in America'' is an illustrated monthly, international magazine concentrating on the contemporary art world in the United States, including profiles of artists and genres, updates about art movements, show reviews and event schedules. It i ...
Art in America
''Art in America'' is an illustrated monthly, international magazine concentrating on the contemporary art world in the United States, including profiles of artists and genres, updates about art movements, show reviews and event schedules. It i ...