Lucien Smith

Lucien Smith
Lucien Smith, Paris - 2021
Born1989 (age 34–35)
NationalityAmerican
EducationThe Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
Known forPainting
Patron(s)Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn, Jose Mugrabi
Websitehttps://www.luciensmithstudio.com/

Lucien Smith is a multidisciplinary artist whose abstract works and diverse projects have earned him international acclaim. A graduate of The Cooper Union, he was twice featured in Forbes "30 Under 30" in the category of "Art & Style".[1][2] Smith was hailed as the art world’s "wunderkind" by The New York Times.[3] He has exhibited at prestigious blue-chip galleries such as Skarstedt and Salon 94,[4] and has had solo exhibitions mounted at major museums. His collaborations span across creative fields, including partnerships with artists like Travis Scott and Virgil Abloh, and he directed a short film narrated by Glenn O'Brien, which was shown at Gagosian Gallery in New York City.[5]

Education

Smith graduated with a BFA from the Cooper Union School of Art in 2011.[6]

Art market

Artsy estimated in 2014 that Smith generated a total of $3.7 million at auction that year.[7]

Smith is associated with other young painters such Oscar Murillo and Jacob Kassay whose work has appreciated rapidly and are favored by collectors for investment-ready fare.[8] A work from Smith's 2011 Cooper Union graduate show was resold in November 2013 for $389,000.[8] In February 2014, his work Two Sides of the Same Coin sold for £224,500 at a Sotheby's auction in London.[9]

Serving the People

In 2017, Smith launched the Serving the People (STP) an organization building the future of creativity, collaboration, and communication. Guided by a network of creatives and technologists, STP aims to rebuild the infrastructure for cultural participation.[10][11]

Artworks

Rain Paintings

In 2011, Smith executed a suite of abstractions he calls Rain Paintings, which he creates by spraying fire extinguishers filled with paint.[12] In 2014 an example of these works titled Two Sides of the Same Coin sold at Sotheby's Contemporary Art Evening Auction London's first lot for $372,000 against an estimate of $66,000–99,000.[13][14]

Camo Paintings

In 2014, Smith produced Tigris, a show of 11 camouflage-patterned abstract paintings, inspired by the recollection of the first work of art that strongly impacted him—Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa.[15][8] The exhibit was described as "undistinguished" and "a shrewd career move".[8]

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

  • A Day Above Ground is a Good One, Kapp Kapp, New York, 2024
  • People are Strange, Will Schott Gallery, New York, 2024
  • Handyman, Lucien Smith Studio, New York, 2024
  • Southampton Suite, Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, New York, 2020
  • Lucien Smith Curated by Bill Powers, Half Gallery, Paris, France, 2019
  • Tulips!, The Fireplace Project, Amagansett, New York, 2018
  • "Friends", Empty Gallery, New York, 2018
  • Cosmas & Damian, Moran Bondaroff, Los Angeles, 2017
  • Ship of Fools, Appointment Only, Los Angeles, 2017
  • Allergic to Morning, Moran Bondaroff, Los Angeles, 2016
  • Vicious Cycles, Surf Lodge, Montauk, 2016
  • Tigris, Skarstedt Gallery, New York, 2014
  • Nature is my Church, Salon 94, New York, 2013
  • Scrap Metal, Bill Brady / KC, Kansas City, 2013
  • A Clean Sweep, Suzanne Geiss, Co., New York, 2013
  • Good Vibrations, Half Gallery, New York, 2012
  • Seven Rain Paintings, OHWOW Gallery, Los Angeles, 2012
  • Needle in the Hay and Cripple Creek, Ritter-Zamet, London, 2011
  • Imagined Nostalgia, Cooper Union, New York, 2011.

Group exhibitions

  • The Smiths, Marlborough Gallery, London, 2019
  • MIDTOWN, curated by Jeanne Greenberg and Michele Maccarone, Lever House, New York, 2017
  • Intimate Paintings, Half Gallery, New York, 2015
  • Matters of Pattern, Skarstedt, New York, 2015
  • Prospect New Orleans, curated by Franklin Sirmans, Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans, 2014
  • Next, Arsenal, Montréal, Canada, 2014
  • ANAMERICANA, curated by Vincenzo de Bellis, American Academy in Rome, Rome, 2013
  • The Writing is on the Wall, Jonathan Viner, London, 2013
  • Sunsets and Pussy, with Ed Ruscha, Betty Tompkins and Piotr Uklanksi, Marianne Boesky, New York, 2013
  • Merci Mercy, curated by Christine Messineo, 980 Madison Avenue, New York, 2013
  • Beyond the Object, Brand New Gallery, Milan, 2013
  • It Ain't Fair 2012, OHWOW Gallery, Miami Beach, 2012
  • Homebody, The Stillhouse Group, Brooklyn, 2011
  • It Ain't Fair: Materialism, OHWOW Gallery, Miami, 2011
  • Objects that Love You Back, curated by Grear Patterson, Stillhouse, New York, 2010
  • It Ain't Fair 2010, OHWOW Gallery, Miami, 2010
  • New Deal, curated by Kyle Thurman and Matt Moravec, Art Production Fund Gallery, New York, 2009
  • May Flowers, curated by Scott Keightley, New York, 2009
  • I want a little sugar in my bowl, curated by Terence Koh, ASS Gallery, New York, 2009
  • Stillhouse, Seven Eleven Gallery, New York, 2009.

References

  1. ^ "30 Under 30 - Art & Style". Forbes. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  2. ^ Adams, Susan. "30 Under 30: The Best Of Art And Style". Forbes. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  3. ^ Baumgardner, Julie (7 May 2013). "A Wunderkind Artist Summons a Barely Bygone New York". The New York Times T Magazine. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  4. ^ Mark Guiducci (19 May 2014). "Can Anything Stop Art-World Wunderkind Lucien Smith?". Vogue. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  5. ^ Eckardt, Stephanie. "Lucien Smith Brings Art, Film, and Fashion Together in New Exhibition at Gagosian". W Magazine. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  6. ^ "Showing: Lucien Smith – "Cripple Creek" @ Ritter / Zamet (London)". Arrested Motion. 25 November 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  7. ^ "Lucien Smith - 64 Artworks, Bio & Shows". Artsy. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  8. ^ a b c d "At UES Show, Lucien Smith Leads the Charge of the Opportunist Brigade". Village Voice. 4 June 2014. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  9. ^ "Lot 1 12 February 2014". Sotheby's. Archived from the original on 15 February 2014.
    - Carol Vogel (13 February 2014). "London Auction Houses See High Prices for Contemporary Art". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 15 February 2014.
  10. ^ "Serve the People Lucien Smith". 14 May 2018.
  11. ^ "What is Serving the People?". 22 July 2022.
  12. ^ Bollen, Christopher (12 December 2013). "Lucien Smith". Interview.
  13. ^ "The Toxic Legacy of Zombie Formalism, Part 1: How an Unhinged Economy Spawned a New World of 'Debt Aesthetics'". 26 July 2018.
  14. ^ "(#1) Lucien Smith". Sothebys.com. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  15. ^ "Skarstedt Gallery". www.skarstedt.com. Retrieved 9 December 2023.