Statement & CV
I have been painting images of newspaper clippings for about twenty years now. They came to prominence in my work following 9/11, the day of my MA graduation, when I showed a painting of Osama Bin Laden pointing a gun at a triumphant George Bush. It had been painted about a month previously in response to his contested election victory. The use of newspaper clippings provides a very flat spatial field, recalls certain trompe l’oile 17th century still life and can deal directly with contemporary issues such as cloning and terrorism. These are contemporary manifestations of the timeless themes of birth and death. Recently I have been working on an ongoing, and never ending, series of obituaries. Obituaries condense a life into a few column inches and a single image – a scrap of newsprint that becomes a heavy token, a memento, even an icon, when rendered in paint. Within this series, I have most recently been working on a series of artist obituaries, using their self portraits as the image.
The act of painting and therefore sustained concentration brings a degree of focus and depth to what otherwise would be fleeting moments in the press.
Education
2000 – 2001 MA Painting, City and Guilds of London Art School
1975 – 1978 BA Painting, Chelsea School of Art
Selected Solo Shows
2021 ‘It was twenty years ago today…’ Retrospective 2001-2021
CHARLIE SMITH london, London
2021 ‘Portrait of Legacy’, Townsend Gallery, New York
2020 ‘The Female Gaze’, CHARLIE SMITH london, London
2018 ‘Autorretrato’ CHARLIE SMITH london, London
2016 ‘The Death of The Artist’ CHARLIE SMITH london, London
2014 Nachrufe. Galerie Braubach5, Frankfurt
2014 ‘Obituaries & Other Works’ High House Gallery, Clanfield, Oxford.
2013 ‘D.O.A: The Good the Bad and the Beautiful’ GUSFORD|los angeles
2012 ‘Obituaries’ CHARLIE SMITH london, London
2011 ‘9/10/11′ KENNY SCHACHTER/ROVE, London
2009 ‘An Existential Itch’ Gallerie Braubach5, Frankfurt
2009 ‘An Existential Itch’ Loading Bay Gallery, London
2008 ‘An Existential Itch’ Fishmarket Gallery, Northampton
2007 ‘Death From Above’ Sartorial Art, London
2003 Three Colts Gallery, London
2001 The Foundry, London
Selected Group Shows
2019 ‘Royal Academy Summer’ Show Royal Academy, London
2019 ‘Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Award’ Piano Nobile Gallery, London
2018 ‘The Rules of Freedom’ Collyer Bristow Gallery, London
2017 ‘Remains’ CHARLIE SMITH london, London
2014 ‘The Great War’ CHARLIE SMITH london, London
2014 ‘The Future Can Wait’ Victoria House, London
2013 Six Degrees of Separation. Wimbledon Art Space, London
2012 ‘The End’ Jacob’s Island, London
2012 ‘The Future Can Wait’ Victoria House, London
2012 ‘The Serpent’s Tail’ Witzenhausen Gallery, Amsterdam
2012 ‘Polemically Small’ Orleans House Gallery, London
2012 ‘The Perfect Nude’ Charlie Smith, London
2012 ‘On The Horizon, New British Painters’ Marine Contemporary, Los Angeles
2012 ‘The Id, The Ego and The Superego’ Braubach5 Gallery, Frankfurt
2011 ‘The Future Can Wait’ Victoria House London
2011 ‘The Possessed’ Charlie Smith, London
2010 Press Art, Museum der Moderne, Salzburg
2009 The Future or Ruin, Charlie Smith, London
2008 New London School, Gallerie Schuster, Berlin2008 Mark Moore Gallery, Los Angeles
2006 ‘NLK’, Wooster Projects, New York
2006 ‘Beyong the Grave’, Sartorial Art, London
2006 ‘Jerusalem’, Dean Clough Galleries, Halifax
2005 ‘Fuckin’ Brilliant’,Tokyo Wonder Site, Tokyo
2005 ‘Art News’, Raid Projects, Los Angeles
2005 Keith Talent Gallery, London
2005 ‘USUK’,Lab Gallery, New York
2005 ‘Green Door’,Sartorial Art, London
2004 ‘Forest’, Rockwell Gallery, London
2004 Three Colts Gallery, London
2004 Plus One Plus Two Gallery, London
2003 ‘Chockafukingblocked’, Jeffery Charles Gallery, London
2002 ‘Yesteryearnowadays’, Hales Gallery, London
Curated Shows
2007 Still Life, Still, T1+2 Gallery, London
Franco B, Tony Carter, Gordon Cheung, Oliver Clegg, Brian Griffiths, Anne Hardy, Dan Hays, Michael Landy, Alastair Mackie, Robin Mason, Hugh Mendes, Lisa Milroy, Boo Ritson, Amikam Toren.
2006 Requiem, St. Anselm’s Church, Kennington
Andy Bannister, Michael Buhler, Tony Carter, Teresita Dennis, Andrew Grassie, James Jessop, Reece Jones, Jane Langley,Robin Mason, Hugh Mendes, Alex Gene Morrison,Gavin Nolan, Kate Palmer, Rosie Snell, Amikam Toren.
2005 Heaven & Earth, Hackney Empire
Kiera Bennett, Chris Davies, Barnaby Hosking,Reece Jones, Hugh Mendes, Alex Morrison,Gavin Nolan, Richard Wathen, Isabel Young
Art News 2005 Raid Projects, LA & 2004 Three Colts Gallery, London
Contemporary artists working with newspaper: Martin Creed, Amikam Toren, Gordon Cheung, Louise Hopkins,Hugh Mendes, Kim Rugg, Alex Hamilton, Chris Cook,Melanie Jackson, Eva Weinmayr, Gillian Wearing.
Collections
Jerry Hall, London
Mauritz Huntzinger, Frankfurt
Angela Nikolakopoulou, London
Peter Nobel, Zurich
Kenny Schachter, London
Steve Shane, New York
Bill Wyman, London
Wooster Projects, New York
Private collections in China, Germany, UK & USA
Award
2003 Fresh Art Artist of the Year
Teaching
2005 – Tate Modern, London
2002 – to date City and Guilds of London Art School
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