Artist — Obituaries & World News

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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