Biography
Rebecca Smith was born April 4, 1954, in Glens Falls, N.Y., the daughter of the writer Jean Freas and the artist David Smith. She grew up in Washington, D.C. and Bolton Landing, and attended Sarah Lawrence College and The New York Studio School. First exhibiting in 1977, she has been making art since the late 1970s, in various media including painting, performance, sculpture and tape drawing installations. Beginning with her first child, born in 1982, Smith has raised three children while maintaining a career as an artist. She lives with the writer Michael Coffey in New York City and Bolton Landing, New York.
UPCOMING EXHIBITION
Solo exhibition at The Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond, Virginia (curated by
John Ravenal) 2012
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM
2005 Tarrawarra Catchment, Tarrawarra Museum of Art, Healesville, Victoria,
Australia.
2002 Rebecca Smith: Ring Sculptures, Picker Art Gallery, Colgate University,
Hamilton, New York, (curated by Dewey Mosby).*
2001 Between Two Things: Rebecca Smith, Lake George Arts Project, Lake George, New York (with poems by Michael Coffey).*
1994 Rebecca Smith: Recent Work, The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, New York (curated by Donna Hassler) *
1984 Rebecca Smith: Drawings, Paintings and Sculpture, Lamont Gallery,
Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire
GALLERY
Jeannie Freilich Fine Art, New York, New York
2007 Blue Cage Sculptures,
Nina Freudenheim Gallery, Buffalo, New York
2008 Rebecca Smith Sculpture
2004 Rebecca Smith: New Work
Florence Lynch Gallery, New York, New York
2002 The Creative Life of Robert Schumann
1999 Rebecca Smith: Tape Drawing Installation
LedisFlam Gallery, New York, New York
1992 Rebecca Smith: Recent Work
1990 Rebecca Smith: Bronzes
1989 Rebecca Smith
Mary Delahoyd Gallery, New York, New York
1987 Rebecca Smith
1986 Rebecca Smith
1985 Stands
GROUP
2010 Paper Works, Janet Kurnatowski Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2009 Hypothetical Landscapes, Janet Kurnatowski Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
(Curated by Greg Lindquist)
Linked: Small Works, Big Ideas, Heskin Contemporary, New York, NY
(Curated by Jennifer Riley)
Drawing: Rebecca Smith, Mildred Beltre, Rana Khoury , Five Myles,
Brooklyn, New York
Mergers & Acquisitions, Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, Georgia
2007 Horizon, EFA Gallery, New York, New York (Curated by David Humphrey)
2006 Deep Space, curated by Whitney Rugg, Bloomberg Headquarters, New York,
New York
Open Gallery, curated by Barbara Flynn. Artwork on banners, Sydney,
Australia
Schumann Festival, curated by Richard Wargo. Sembrich Opera Museum,
Bolton Landing, New York
Artists' Tower for Peace, organized by Mark Di Suvero and Rirkrit Tiravanija,
Whitney Biennial 2006, Whitney Museum, New York, New York
Group 1, Lesley Heller Gallery, 30 East 92nd Street, New York, New York
Some Assembly Required: Cumulative Visions, curated by Trinkett Clark,
Mead Art Museum at Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts
2005 Cursive, Tenri Cultural Institute, New York, New York (curated by Thalia Vrachopoulus)*
In Line, Rockland County Center for the Arts, West Nyack, New York (curated by Joel Carreiro and Lynn Stein)*
Merry Peace, Sideshow Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
2004 Franziska Boaz Memorial Program, Saratoga Arts Center, Saratoga Springs,
New York
Greetings from Chelsea, Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, New York
Sideshow's 1st Annual Exhibition & Auction for Women's Cancers, Sideshow Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
Intersections, Douglas Elliman, New York, New York (curated by Ruth Hardinger and C. Michael Norton)
2003 Merry Peace, Sideshow Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
Summer Color, Elizabeth Harris Gallery, New York, New York
2002 Lost and Found, Savage Gallery, Portland, Oregon
2001 21 Suffragettes: Art and Performance by Women, Magnifik Gallery, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York
Mapping and Wayfinding, Abingden Art Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (curated by Julie Courtney)
2000 Collaborations, Bucknell Art Gallery, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania (curated by Stuart Horodner)
Yard Sale, Downtown Arts Festival, New York, New York (curated by Barbara Pollack)
From Rags to Riches, Fondation de la Tapisserie, des Arts du Tissu, et des Arts Mureaux de la Communauté Française de Belgique, Tournai, Belgium (curated by Petra Bungert).*
Nomad Territories, DFN Gallery, New York, New York (curated by Florence Lynch).
Artists Choose Artists, Lake George Arts Project, Lake George, New York.
1999 Artists in Purgatory, Salena Gallery, Long Island University, Brooklyn, New York (curated by Esther Smith and Dikko Faust, Purgatory Pie Press).
Inaugural Exhibition, Plattsburgh State Art Museum Sculpture Park, Plattsburgh, New York (curated by Ed Brohel)*
1998 Elusive Traces, Fine Arts Center Galleries, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island (curated by Judith Tolnick)
1997 Consumer Detox, Hofstra University Art Gallery, Hempstead, New York (curated by Dan Devine)
Artists of Tribeca, Borough of Manhattan Community College, New York, New York (curated by Michael Chisholm)
1996 Permanent Collection/Selected Works, The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, New York (curated by Kathleen Monaghan)
1994 Boxes, K & E Gallery, New York, New York (curated by Emily Sorkin)
1993 Clothing as Metaphor, Art Museum at Florida International University, Miami, Florida (curated by Dahlia Morgan)*
The Second Dimension: 20th Century Sculptors' Drawings, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York (curated by Linda Kramer)
1992 Gallery Artists: Works on Paper, LedisFlam Gallery, New York, New York
Art at Friends, S. Bitterlarkin Gallery, New York, New York*
1991 The Tree, Elysium Arts, New York, New York (curated by Scott Thatcher).
Gallery Artists, LedisFlam Gallery, New York, New York
Summer Studios, Lake George Arts Project, Lake George, NY (curated by Jim Goss)*
1990 From Earth to Archetype, LedisFlam Gallery, New York, New York
1988 Sculptural Transformations, Art in General, New York, New York
Galerie Maghi Bettini, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Rebecca Smith and Peter Stevens, Arnold and Porter Gallery, Washington, D.C. (curated by Helen Horowitz)
Max Gimblett and Rebecca Smith, LedisFlam Gallery, New York, New York
1987 Art Against AIDS, Rosa Esman Gallery and others, New York, New York Hybrids: 13 New York Sculptors, Addison Ripley Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Actualities, LedisFlam Gallery, New York, New York*
Gone Fishin', Graham Modern Gallery, New York, New York
1986 Gender and Gesture, Picker Art Gallery, Colgate University, Hamilton, New York*
Group Exhibition, Mary Delahoyd Gallery, New York, New York.
Homage to the American Elm, Gallery 53, Cooperstown, New York*
1983 3 Years of Gallery 53, Gallery 53, Cooperstown, New York (curated by Syd Waller)
Homage to Arthur Dove, Houghton House Gallery, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, New York (curated by Jesse Murry)
Wood Metal Paper Clay, Gallery 53, Cooperstown, New York
1979 Autos, Franklin Furnace, New York, New York (collaboration with Joe Lewis)
1978 Hovercraft, Theater at 1 Times Square, New York, New York
1977 DISTANCES, Stephan Eins Gallery, New York, New York.
SELECTED BIBILOGRAPHY
BOOKS & PRINT EDITIONS
Purgatory Pie Press Postcard Series 2008
"Skull", 1995, etching, Sue Evans Editions, New York, NY.
CMYK. Cover art by Rebecca Smith; poems by Michael Coffey. Oakland, California: O Books, 2005.
Between Two Things. Art by Rebecca Smith and text by Michael Coffey, Lake George, New York: Lake George Arts Project, 2001.
CATALOGUE ESSAYS
Brenson, Michael. "Line Drawing on the Blue Cage Sculptures of Rebecca Smith," Blue Cage Sculptures, Jeanie Freilich Gallery, 2007.
Flynn, Barbara. Rebecca Smith's 'Catchment' for Tarrawarra. Tarrawarra Museum of Art, Healesville, Victoria, Australia 2005
Lindquist, Greg. "Hypothetical Landscapes (Lattices and Grids of Abstraction," Hypothetical Landscapes, Janet Kurnatowski Gallery, 2009.
Princenthal, Nancy. "Rebecca Smith: Sweeping Gestures," Rebecca Smith: Recent Work. Glens Falls, New York: The Hyde Collection, 1994
Princenthal, Nancy. "Sight Maps: Recent Work by Rebecca Smith," Rebecca Smith: The Ring Sculptures. Hamilton, New York: Picker Art Gallery, Colgate University, 2002
ARTICLES & REVIEWS
Dabkowski, Colin. Review "Blue Steel", The Buffalo News, December 5, 2008
"Aire Libre." "Matières à Réflexion," Axelle, 7 May 2000
Bass, Ruth. "Rebecca Smith: Mary Delahoyd," ARTnews 87, no. 1 (January 1988)
Caldwell, Jane. "Artist's Show a 'Monument to the Mind,'" Lake George Mirror [Lake George, New York], 6 September 2002.
Cohen, David. Review, The New York Sun, 3 July 2003.
Ebony, David. Review, Art in America 82, no. 11 (November 1994): 126-127.
Finch, Charlie. "What You See Is What You See", artnet, 18 April 2007.
Frank, Elizabeth. "The Influence of Eva Hesse," The New York Times, February, 1993.
Gaasch, Cynnie. "Meditations in Art & Sand," Artvoice [Buffalo, New York], 27 October 2004.
Gies-Bentley, Anne. "Booking Passage," Adirondack Life (November-December 2001).
"Goings On About Town" The New Yorker, "Rebecca Smith"
Hall, Anthony F. "Artist Rebecca Smith's Installation at Lake George Arts Project Produces New Book," Lake George Mirror [Lake George, New York], 31 August 2001.
Handy, Ellen. "Actualities: LedisFlam Gallery, New York," Arts Magazine 62, no. 3 (November, 1987): 109.
Harrison, Helen. "Consumer Detox," The New York Times, 16 March 1997
Heartney, Eleanor. "Rebecca Smith at Florence Lynch," Art in America 90, no. 11 (November, 2002): 159-160
Hess, Elizabeth. "Dress to Kill," The Village Voice, 24 March 1992
ISC [International Sculpture Center] News. "ISC Sets the Pace for Exhibitions," Sculpture 7 (November/December 1988)
Johnson, Ken. "Greetings from Chelsea," The New York Times, 30 July 2004
Keens, Leta. "Sticky Business," Belle (August/September 2003)
Kuspit, Donald. "Rebecca Smith: Mary Delahoyd," Artforum 25, no. 1 (September 1986): 133
Landi, Ann. "Rebecca Smith: Florence Lynch," ARTnews 101, no. 10 (November 2002): 276
Larsen, Kay. Clothing as Metaphor. Miami, Florida: Art Museum of Florida, International University, 1993
Ledis, Lori. Actualities. New York: LedisFlam Gallery, 1987
Lindquist, Greg. "Rebecca Smith, Mildred Beltre and Rhana Khoury", The Brooklyn Rail, March, 2009
Marvel, Janet. "Summer Studios," The Post-Star [Glens Falls, New York], 12 July 1991
Mitchell, Mary Niall. "Summer Group Shows: Paper, Patterns and Personal History," Cover: Arts New York Magazine 6, no. 5 (June 1992)
Princenthal, Nancy. "Artist's Book Beat," Art on Paper 6, no. 3 (January/February 2002): 100-101
Riley, Jennifer. "Refilling the Picture Plane", The New York Sun,
Terry, Justin. "Hypothetical Landscapes at Janet Kurnatowski Gallery". Artcritical.com May, 2009
Wilkin, Karen. "A Nourishing Summer Meal" The Hudson Review 57, no. 3 (Autumn 2004): 491-495
Wood, Carol. "Free-for-All Formalism: Seven Artists' Continued Allegiance to the Genre," The New Art Examiner 22 (November 1994): 26-30
Wright, Peg Churchell. "Rebecca Smith: Paintings, Sculpture on View at The Hyde Collection," The Daily Gazette [Troy, New York], 1 September 1994
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York
Austcorp Group Limited Art Collection, Sydney, Australia
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York
Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, New York
Microsoft Collection, Redmond, Washington
Picker Art Gallery, Colgate University, Hamilton, New York
Tarrawarra Museum, Healesville, Victoria, Australia
COMMISSIONS
2005 Finger Touch, tape drawing installation, Ebsworth & Ebsworth, Sydney, Australia
The Life of the Line, tape drawing installation, Austcorp Group Limited Art Collection, Sydney, Australia
2003 Elizabeth Bay Tangle, permanent tape work, Collection Barbara Flynn and William Grounds, Sydney, Australia
1999 1999 Award for Susan Sarandon from the Center for Constitutional Rights (collaboration with Edith Vonnegut). Relief bronze placque, Collection Susan Sarandon, New York, New York
1996 Circuits, painting on aluminum, Racemark International, Saratoga Springs, New York