Shinique Smith’s art practice is influenced by a need to recreate the feeling of discovery she had as a child, when she combined what was available to make a toy or a costume. Her work, which combines everything from calligraphy, collage, and graffiti to recycled fabrics, garments, and a vast array of consumed and discarded everyday items, examines how these objects, when intricately recomposed, can resonate on a personal and social scale.
Smith returns to Boston this fall in a big way with her first solo exhibition in New England— BRIGHT MATTER —on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) through March 1, 2015. This survey of 30 abstract works—including 14 new works—explores the powerful spectrum of human expression that, for Smith, “leans toward joy.” She has also been commissioned by the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway Conservancy to create a large-scale temporary mural, Seven Moons Junction, in Boston’s downtown Dewey Square to be unveiled in late September 2014.
Born and raised in Baltimore, Md., Smith completed a Master of Arts in Teaching, Art Education in 2000 at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (SMFA)/Tufts University while also working full time with high school students. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1992 and a Master of Fine Arts in 2003 from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Smith has risen to international acclaim in the past decade, with exhibitions at institutions like Deutsche Guggenheim (Berlin, Germany), Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Calif.), and the Studio Museum in Harlem (N.Y.). A recipient of the prestigious Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Biennial Award, among others, she lives and works in upstate New York.
Learn more about Shinique and her work at http://shiniquesmith.com/.
Leave a Reply