Shinique Smith
For more than a decade artist Shinique Smith has extracted visual poetry from vintage clothing, fabrics and found objects - items that exist in the realm of what we call belongings, to highlight how we as a society identify ourselves and build worlds through what consume and discard. Smith has built a complex abstract vocabulary that deftly interweaves the energy of her broad calligraphic strokes with private narratives, memories and symbolism that she intuits within the materials and the world around her.
She has presented over 20 solo exhibitions at institutions such as; Baltimore Museum of Art, California African American Museum, Frist Center, MOCA Jacksonville, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Studio Museum in Harlem. Her exuberant works are featured in many prestigious collections including; Brooklyn Museum of Art, Denver Art Museum, Minneapolis Art Institute, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Rubell Family Museum, the UBS Art Collection and Whitney Museum. Smith has received awards from Joan Mitchell Foundation Tiffany Foundation and Anonymous Was a Woman among others. Smith earned her BFA and MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art where she was also awarded the Alumni Medal of Honor.
