Josh smith painter biography

American artist based in New York City (born 1976)

Joshua Smith (born 1976) is an American artist based in New York City.

Biography

Smith was born in Okinawa, Japan and raised in Tennessee.^[1] Trained as a printmaker, he initially began working with collages in the early 2000s.^[2] He combined photocopies, documents and drawing in layers to create abstract images reacting to surreal and expressionist ways of painting.

He first became known in the early 2000s, however, for a body of work that consisted of paintings featuring letters from his own name:^[3] Smith used the letters as a base for building abstract imagery.^[4] In recent years, he has made numerous partly-figurative series, including series featuring palm trees, skeletons, fishes and devils, among other varied themes.^[5] He also makes artist books and collages.^[6] Amongst Smith's favourite and more famous motifs is the Grim Reaper, wh Artist Interview: Joshua Smith — Formal Elements JOL