NYAB Event - Brendan Smith “S1”

Brendan Smith “S1”

Louis B. James Gallery

This event has ended.

Louis B. James presents S1, a solo show of new paintings by Brendan Smith. Smith previously participated in a two-artist show at the gallery in 2012, and this will be his first solo exhibition in New York. S1 (System 1) is a limited series of twenty paintings created using a specific rubric of colors, surfaces, and gestures, ten of which will be on view, ten of which will be available as customizable commissions.

Smith’s serial approach to abstraction recalls the workmanlike attitude of an older generation of artists, particularly those emerging out of abstract expressionism in the 1960’s. For S1 Smith has pared down his gestural vocabulary to three distinct and formal inputs and two inverse palettes: grey finish and color finish, with “frames” of thickly built-up oil paint on the sides of the canvas in either color or grey respectively. The greys are mixed in the studio and reveal hints of white, variances within the norm, while the colored oil paint is specially mixed to achieve a luminous opacity.

Smith has used a trowel rather than a brush in these paintings to apply and move around the paint, miming industry. His interest in systems of movement and his task-based approach to surface – the underlying structure of the painting is very simple, the application of a material to cover a flat surface – reify this mechanical understanding of painting. Smith is interested in a slow read, in allowing the viewer to dissect the painting down to its gestural structure.

The customizable nature of S1’s ten to-be-made paintings complicates this industrial approach to abstraction. Smith’s pleasure in the play with surface is palpable, and each new painting will be the result of a unique exchange with its owner. Moreover, both the systematic gestures and the seriality of the project enable Smith to highlight on the potential inherent in the material itself. By limiting his palette and paring down his movements, the paint itself comes to the fore.

Brendan Smith (b. 1983) lives and works in New York. He received his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2006 and his MFA from Yale University in 2011. He has previously shown in a two- artist show at Louis B. James (2012), as well as group exhibitions at Louis B. James (2013); FJORD Gallery, Philadelphia (2012); 1708 Gallery, Richmond (2012); Number35 Gallery, NY (2011); among others. His work has been published in The New Yorker and other publications.