Frederick Holmes and Company in Seattle was kind enough to extend an invitation to exhibit a new series of work entitled “Secret Societies” for their one year anniversary. Below are pictures from the exhibition and the opening night.
All works for this exhibition were created in Miami in 2014. This body of work is the first series of works to be exhibited since 2010 by artist Mark T Smith. Four years between exhibitions is an abnormally long time for this artist. After a solo exhibition in 2010 and a traumatic event, the artist made the decision to spend some time being introspective about life and his life’s work. The artist spent most of 2010-2012 archiving my older works from 1990-2010, executing a number commissions and drawing from the figure. This time period was a return to the basics and an opportunity to review the work in a new more mature context.
This transformation has happening in the context of the world becoming truly global for the first time in a simultaneous experience. The continued development in the Global technology businesses the reduced scope of American influence, the slow wind down of the American Democracy, and an Art World ruled by speculation. Anyone who knows Mark T Smith, most likely knows him has a relentless optimist, a real-world problem solver, this show might reveal a darker side of the artist. The concepts for the works in this show were combine with a graphic style of work that has drawn influences from the growing “street art” movement, the continued popularity of tattoos, the artist’s visual language and experiences.
