Lenard Smith (b. 1975) is a first-generation Ghanaian American interdisciplinary artist who lives and works in Los Angeles. For more than fifteen years, he has been developing a signature language that combines assemblage sculpture and still life photography. He has exhibited his work throughout the United States and abroad; published six artist books, including Melancholy Objects (Perimeter Editions, 2022); and contributed photography to The New York Times and The Atlantic. His work is included in the permanent collections of The Whitney and Lee Kaplan African American Visual Culture Collection at the Getty Research Institute, Light Work (Syracuse, NY), and the Wallis Annenberg Photography Department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), which recently acquired three photographs from Spatial Studies (2023), Smith’s solo exhibition at
As-Is Gallery, Los Angeles. He received an MFA in Advanced Photographic Studies from Bard College, which grounds his work in traditional practices and experimental methodologies. Smith is currently a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Art at the University of California, Riverside.
C.V.
Education
2006-2008 MFA in Advanced Photographic Studies
Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
Residencies
2023 Black Artist Retreat (B.A.R.), Chicago, IL Hosted by Theaster Gates
2022 Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Omaha, NE
2021 Crafting the Future, Los Angeles, CA
2020 Unpublished Studio Residency, Los Angeles, CA
2010 Light Work Artists-in-Residence, New York, NY
Exhibitions
2023 A Project Curated by Artists: 15 Years of ACP, Moran Moran, Los Angeles, CA
2023 Chanterelle, Ashes/Ashes, New York, NY
2023 Solo Exhibition | Lenard Smith: Spatial Studies, As-Is Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2023 Crafting the Future, The Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art
2022 Even in It’s Stillness, Artist Curated Projects, Los Angeles
2022 Dreams Curated by Eve Fowler, Artist Curated Projects, Los Angeles, CA
2022 There is No Outside, Charles James Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2022 New Photography III, Academy Art Museum, Easton, MD
2021 Reimagine Public Art, Department of Cultural Affairs City of Los Angeles, CA
2020 ‘Reasonable Nomenclatures of Invisibility’, PARISTEXASLA
2020 Archive Machines: REVISIONING, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery
2019 Radical Reading Room | Studio Museum Harlem
2013 09 On The Wall – The Human Imagination Gallery, Honolulu, Hawaii
2011 Dear Japan, We Love You, Group Show, New York
2010 Fewer Particulars – Solo Exhibition, The Black Tag, New York
2010 We’re Still Here – Solo Exhibition, Stussy, Los Angeles, California
2009 Passing Glance – Solo Exhibition, Blender Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2008 GROUP SHOW NO. 27, Humble Arts Foundation, New York
2008 Insider Art, Christie’s Rockefeller Plaza, New York
2008 ALONE/TOGETHER, Talman + Monroe Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2008 INTERIORS: PUBLIC | PRIVATE – Thesis Exhibition,
International Center of Photography, New York
2008 Fourteen: ICP-Bard MFA Group Exhibition, International Center Photography, New York
2007 Demian, International Center of Photography, New York
2006 Arte Latino, Voz Alta Gallery, San Diego, California
2004 Hamburger Eyes in Thunder Dome,
Cassius King Gallery, San Diego, California
2003 BRITART New Artists, BRITART Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2002 NO ALLA VIOLENZA, BURRO Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2002 The Shoreditch Salon, Ravenscroft Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2001 Black and White works, BURRO Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2000 World of Work, Palazzo D’ Accursio, Bologna, Italia
2000 MODART, The Reincarnation Project, San Diego, California
1999 Modest Behavior Group Art Show, San Diego, California
1999 MODART, The Reincarnation Project, San Diego, California
1998 MODART, Culy Trucking Building, San Diego, California
Bibliography
2024 Refuge, Publisher: Perimeter Editions, Edition of 800
2022 Melancholy Objects, Publisher: Perimeter Editions, Edition of 500
2018 Independence Affect, Limited in Edition of 50 copies worldwide
2017 A Sort of Looking, Limited in Edition of 100 copies worldwide
2016 Lenard Smith: Photographs, Limited in Edition of 40 copies worldwide
2013 A Change of Scenery, Publisher: Pau Wau Publications, Edition of 50
2011 Contact Sheet 162: Light Work Annual
2011 Inventory Magazine Issue 04, Spring/Summer
2010 Portraits, Publisher: And Press, Limited in Edition of 100 copies
2010 Ojode Pez Magazine, Issue #20 Outside
2010 We’re Still Here, Publisher: And Press, Limited in Edition of 100 copies
2009 Alaska, Edition #2, Limited to 333 copies worldwide
2008 The Studio Museum in Harlem Magazine, Spring Issue
2008 SHIFT Vol. 3, International Center of Photography
2004 Next Level Magazine, Edition 01, Volume 03
2004 Graphic Magazine, Issue 04
2004 Hamburger Eyes Magazine, Issue 07
2003 Installation Art in the New Millennium: The Empire of the Senses,
Publisher:Thames & Hudson
Permanent Collections
Wallis Annenberg Department of Photography, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Whitney and Lee Kaplan African American Visual Culture Collection,
Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, CA
Light Work Collection, Syracuse, NY
Teaching
2024 Visiting Assistant Professor, UC Riverside, Department of Art
2023 UCLA Department of Art (Photography Area)
2023 Loyola Marymount College of Communication and Fine Arts (Photography)
Inquiries: studio@lenardsmith.work
Studio: Los Angeles, CA
All artworks appearing on the Lenard Smith Studio website are copyrighted and protected under United States and international copyright laws. The works on this website may not be reproduced in any form, stored, or manipulated without prior written permission from Lenard Smith Studio.
Copyright © 2024 Lenard Smith
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