Paul Smith
Paul Smith has worked as a post-modern painter, photographer and installation artist. His themes investigate and re-work elements of both the domestic and public sphere, represented with what he calls “a sideways glance,” and concentrate on the overlooked. He has used the term angiography as a metaphor for his work, seeking to make visible the invisible workings of our perceptions.
He completed a BFA in Studio Art from Concordia University, Montreal, in 1982, and an MFA in Painting from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) in 1985. His work was shown in several galleries in the region in the 1980s, including at Dare Dare and Galerie Skol (Montreal), La Chambre Blanche (Québec City) and Galerie Sans Nom (Moncton, NB). He was represented for several years by the former Leo Kamen Gallery in Toronto.
Paul moved to Lethbridge in 1988, where he has contributed to the Western Canadian art scene. He has participated in various group shows, including Biennials at the then-Edmonton Art Gallery, in 1996 and 2002. His photographs were shown in Vision 20/20 (1998), at the Center for Photography, Woodstock, New York. His multi-panel formats created provocative juxtapositions, allowing for additional meanings. The photographic diptychs of the Pockets and Housebound series explore familiar domestic environments, those of clothing and of found objects respectively. Pockets arranges fabric patterns like abstract architectural gridwork; Housebound functions like a landscape series, probing the threshold of inside and outside.
Solo shows such as Shadow Band (1993) at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery (SAAG) in Lethbridge and at Galerie Clark, Montreal, and Scramble (Trianon Gallery, Lethbridge, 1999), drew on popular culture. Smith’s paintings explore the commercialization and packaging of both goods and values. A wide range of culturally-produced imagery, suburban icons and manufactured goods were juxtaposed with natural phenomena – birds, flowers, fruit –, suggesting the strange underpinnings to our familiar world. His work was also shown in the Alberta Biennials of Contemporary Art of 1996 and 2002 at the Edmonton Art Gallery.
Paul Smith has served as a Board Member of SAAG. Collections holding his works include MacEwan University, Edmonton, the Glenbow and Nickle Museums, Calgary; the Banff Centre, the University of Lethbridge, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa; and the Musée du Québec, Québec City. Paul was last known to be residing once more in Montreal.
He completed a BFA in Studio Art from Concordia University, Montreal, in 1982, and an MFA in Painting from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) in 1985. His work was shown in several galleries in the region in the 1980s, including at Dare Dare and Galerie Skol (Montreal), La Chambre Blanche (Québec City) and Galerie Sans Nom (Moncton, NB). He was represented for several years by the former Leo Kamen Gallery in Toronto.
Paul moved to Lethbridge in 1988, where he has contributed to the Western Canadian art scene. He has participated in various group shows, including Biennials at the then-Edmonton Art Gallery, in 1996 and 2002. His photographs were shown in Vision 20/20 (1998), at the Center for Photography, Woodstock, New York. His multi-panel formats created provocative juxtapositions, allowing for additional meanings. The photographic diptychs of the Pockets and Housebound series explore familiar domestic environments, those of clothing and of found objects respectively. Pockets arranges fabric patterns like abstract architectural gridwork; Housebound functions like a landscape series, probing the threshold of inside and outside.
Solo shows such as Shadow Band (1993) at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery (SAAG) in Lethbridge and at Galerie Clark, Montreal, and Scramble (Trianon Gallery, Lethbridge, 1999), drew on popular culture. Smith’s paintings explore the commercialization and packaging of both goods and values. A wide range of culturally-produced imagery, suburban icons and manufactured goods were juxtaposed with natural phenomena – birds, flowers, fruit –, suggesting the strange underpinnings to our familiar world. His work was also shown in the Alberta Biennials of Contemporary Art of 1996 and 2002 at the Edmonton Art Gallery.
Paul Smith has served as a Board Member of SAAG. Collections holding his works include MacEwan University, Edmonton, the Glenbow and Nickle Museums, Calgary; the Banff Centre, the University of Lethbridge, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa; and the Musée du Québec, Québec City. Paul was last known to be residing once more in Montreal.