Colin Smith

Colin Smith's paintings and sculptures expand the conventions of painting. Beginning with the joys of material, color and the graphic image, Smith’s newest works are aggressive, buoyant and difficult to classify. The wall works reference minimal painting and expressionism, yet their colors and forms are fully contemporary. The floor sculptures are playful and casual, yet their offhandedness belies a rigorous process and intentional mark making. Smith is interested in making works that charge retinal and interior spaces. They move when you squint and can throw you off balance if you get too close. Smith’s abstractions have a liveliness and spirit that is rare in contemporary painting, particularly in works that contain such a restrained and focused bag of tricks. Smith received his BFA in 1988 from the University of Nebraska-Omaha and his MFA in 1992 from Drake University. Colin Smith recently produced several new works for the Bemis Center’s Borderland Abstraction exhibition.