Michael E. Smith
Installation View
Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It's Kept, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
April 6 – October 16, 2022
Michael E. Smith
Installation View
Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It's Kept, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
April 6 – October 16, 2022
Michael E. Smith
Installation View
Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It's Kept, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
April 6 – October 16, 2022
Lewis Hammond & Michael E. Smith, LA MAISON DE RENDEZ-VOUS, Brussels
Curated by Chris Sharp Gallery
June 24 - July 31, 2021
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2021
Pot, knife, blade
6.2 x 12 x 29.1 inches (16 x 30.5 x 74 cm.)
Lewis Hammond & Michael E. Smith, LA MAISON DE RENDEZ-VOUS, Brussels
Curated by Chris Sharp Gallery
June 24 - July 31, 2021
Lewis Hammond & Michael E. Smith, LA MAISON DE RENDEZ-VOUS, Brussels
Curated by Chris Sharp Gallery
June 24 - July 31, 2021
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2020
Sofa, bed sheet
34 x 85 x 35 in (86.4 x 215.9 x 88.9 cm)
Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
February 29 - March 28, 2020
Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
February 29 - March 28, 2020
Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
February 29 - March 28, 2020
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2020
Fans, bird sounds
Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
February 29 - March 28, 2020
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2020
Fans, bird sounds
Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
February 29 - March 28, 2020
Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
February 29 - March 28, 2020
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2020
Turtle shells, sweatshirts
In three parts, approximately 34 x 7 1/2 x 18 in (86.4 x 19.1 x 45.7 cm) each; installed dimensions variable
Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
February 29 - March 28, 2020
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2020
Turtle shells, sweatshirts
In three parts, approximately 34 x 7 1/2 x 18 in (86.4 x 19.1 x 45.7 cm) each; installed dimensions variable
Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
February 29 - March 28, 2020
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2020
Turtle shell, sweatshirt
33 x 18 x 7 1/2 in (83.8 x 45.7 x 19.1 cm)
Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
February 29 - March 28, 2020
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2020
Halved coat
35 4/10 x 25 6/10 x 9 1/2 in (90 x 65 x 24 cm)
Vienna Secession, Vienna
February 21 - September 6, 2020
Photo: Oliver Ottenschläger
Vienna Secession, Vienna
February 21 - September 6, 2020
Photo: Oliver Ottenschläger
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2020
3 Fans, 3 bread boxes
Dimensions variable
Vienna Secession, Vienna
February 21 - September 6, 2020
Photo: Oliver Ottenschläger
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2020
3 Fans, 3 bread boxes
Dimensions variable
Vienna Secession, Vienna
February 21 - September 6, 2020
Photo: Oliver Ottenschläger
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2020
3 Fans, 3 bread boxes
Dimensions variable
Vienna Secession, Vienna
February 21 - September 6, 2020
Photo: Oliver Ottenschläger
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2020
3 Fans, 3 bread boxes
Dimensions variable
Vienna Secession, Vienna
February 21 - September 6, 2020
Photo: Oliver Ottenschläger
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2020
Five turtle shells
17 3/4 x 31 1/2 x 5 1/2 in (45 x 80 x 14 cm)
Vienna Secession, Vienna
February 21 - September 6, 2020
Photo: Oliver Ottenschläger
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2020
Pumpkin stems
124 8/10 x 115 1/3 x 3 1/8 in (317 x 293 x 8 cm)
Vienna Secession, Vienna
February 21 - September 6, 2020
Photo: Oliver Ottenschläger
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2020
Pumpkin stems
124 8/10 x 115 1/3 x 3 1/8 in (317 x 293 x 8 cm)
Vienna Secession, Vienna
February 21 - September 6, 2020
Photo: Oliver Ottenschläger
Vienna Secession, Vienna
February 21 - September 6, 2020
Photo: Oliver Ottenschläger
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2020
Hair, glue
29 1/2 x 27 1/2 x 4 1/3 in (75 x 70 x 11 cm)
Vienna Secession, Vienna
February 21 - September 6, 2020
Photo: Oliver Ottenschläger
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2020
Skull, gourds
6 1/3 x 11 8/10 x 45 2/3 in (16 x 30 x 116 cm)
Vienna Secession, Vienna
February 21 - September 6, 2020
Photo: Oliver Ottenschläger
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2019
Chairs, dreadlocks
Dimensions variable
May You Live In Interesting Times, 58th Venice Biennale, Arsenale
May 11 - November 24, 2019
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2019
Chairs, dreadlocks
Dimensions variable
May You Live In Interesting Times, 58th Venice Biennale, Arsenale
May 11 - November 24, 2019
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2019
Anvils
Dimensions variable
May You Live In Interesting Times, 58th Venice Biennale, Giardini
May 11 - November 24, 2019
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2019
Anvils
Dimensions variable
May You Live In Interesting Times, 58th Venice Biennale, Giardini
May 11 - November 24, 2019
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2019
5 channel video installation
Dimensions variable
May You Live In Interesting Times, 58th Venice Biennale, Arsenale
May 11 - November 24, 2019
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2019
5 channel video installation
Dimensions variable
May You Live In Interesting Times, 58th Venice Biennale, Arsenale
May 11 - November 24, 2019
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2018
Chair, sea turtle
28 x 22 x 28 1/2 in (71.1 x 55.9 x 72.4 cm)
Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland
March 3 – May 21, 2018
Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland
March 3 – May 21, 2018
Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland
March 3 – May 21, 2018
Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland
March 3 – May 21, 2018
Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland
March 3 – May 21, 2018
Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland
March 3 – May 21, 2018
Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland
March 3 – May 21, 2018
Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland
March 3 – May 21, 2018
Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland
March 3 – May 21, 2018
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2018
Skunk pelts, copper, steel
78 x 10 x 10 in (198.1 x 25.4 x 25.4 cm)
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2018
Flute case, alligator
6 1/4 x 21 1/4 x 9 1/2 in (15.9 x 54 x 24.1 cm)
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2018
Flute, coral
31 1/2 x 11 x 1 1/2 in (80 x 27.9 x 3.8 cm)
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2017
Chairs, light
Dimensions variable
The David Ireland House, 500 Capp Street Foundation
November 18 - February 3, 2018
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2017
Chairs, light
Dimensions variable
The David Ireland House, 500 Capp Street Foundation
November 18 - February 3, 2018
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2017
Laser
Dimensions variable
The David Ireland House, 500 Capp Street Foundation
November 18 - February 3, 2018
The David Ireland House, 500 Capp Street Foundation
November 18 - February 3, 2018
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2017
Hamster ball, foam
11 x 11 x 11 in (27.9 x 27.9 x 27.9 cm)
Installation View
The David Ireland House, 500 Capp Street Foundation
November 18 - February 3, 2018
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2017
Blanket
Dimensions variable
Installation View
The David Ireland House, 500 Capp Street Foundation
November 18 - February 3, 2018
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2017
Toy
10 1/4 x 7 1/2 x 8 in (26 x 19.1 x 20.3 cm)
Installation View
The David Ireland House, 500 Capp Street Foundation
November 18 - February 3, 2018
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2017
Cooler, lights
14 x 10 x 14 in (35.6 x 25.4 x 35.6 cm)
The David Ireland House, 500 Capp Street Foundation
November 18 - February 3, 2018
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2017
Artificial heart, sprinkler head
Dimensions variable
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2016
Porcupine fish, pliers
29 x 9 x 9 in (73.7 x 22.9 x 22.9 cm) (Inv# MES16-062)
S.M.A.K, Belgium
June 24 - October 1, 2017
S.M.A.K, Belgium
June 24 - October 1, 2017
S.M.A.K, Belgium
June 24 - October 1, 2017
S.M.A.K, Belgium
June 24 - October 1, 2017
S.M.A.K, Belgium
June 24 - October 1, 2017
S.M.A.K, Belgium
June 24 - October 1, 2017
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2017
Catchers mit, ear canal
9 5/8 x 13 1/2 x 3 1/8 in (24.4 x 34.3 x 7.9 cm) (Inv# MES17-014)
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2017
Table, fish
28 1/2 x 39 1/2 x 39 1/2 in (72.4 x 100.3 x 100.3 cm)
Michael Benevento, Los Angeles
January 19 - March 11, 2017
Michael Benevento, Los Angeles
January 19 - March 11, 2017
Michael Benevento, Los Angeles
January 19 - March 11, 2017
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2016
Door, bird, plastic
7 x 77 1/2 x 2 in (17.8 x 196.9 x 5.1 cm)
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2017
Vinyl rendering of canine CAT scan
12 1/2 x 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 in (31.8 x 24.1 x 19.1 cm)
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2016
Door, pigeon, plastic
75 1/2 x 2 1/4 x 10 in (191.8 x 5.7 x 25.4 cm) (Inv# MES16-047)
Zero Gallery, Milano
May 12 - July 22, 2016
Zero Gallery, Milano
May 12 - July 22, 2016
Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
March 31 - May 7, 2016
Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
March 31 - May 7, 2016
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2016
Fish, plastic, lights
46 x 23 3/4 x 29 1/2 in (116.8 x 60.3 x 74.9 cm)
Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
March 31 - May 7, 2016
Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
March 31 - May 7, 2016
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2015
Sweatpants, plastic
27 9/16 x 3 15/16 x 7 1/16 in (70 x 10 x 18 cm)
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2015
Hot-water boiler, diving suit
64 9/16 x 21 10/16 x 23 5/8 in (164 x 55 x 60 cm)
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2015
Door, cowbell, bulb
64 9/16 x 21 5/8 x 23 5/8 in (164 x 55 x 60 cm)
Kunstverein Hannover, Hannover
November 21, 2015 - January 17, 2016
Kunstverein Hannover, Hannover
November 21, 2015 - January 17, 2016
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2015
Billboard tarpaulin
w = 1.490, t = 468 cm
Kunstverein Hannover, Hannover
November 21, 2015 - January 17, 2016
Kunstverein Hannover, Hannover
November 21, 2015 - January 17, 2016
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2015
Heater, vase, coconut
64 9/16 x 21 10/16 x 23 5/8 in (164 x 55 x 60 cm)
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2015
SD video, 16:9, found footage, color, sound
Edition of 10 + 2AP
De Appel, Amsterdam
July 11 - August 30, 2015
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2015
Nail guns and seed pod
19 3/4 x 15 3/4 x 19 3/4 in (50 x 40 x 50 cm)
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2015
Altered pallet jack
98 7/16 x 59 1/16 x 15 3/4 in (250 x 150 x 40 cm)
De Appel, Amsterdam
July 11 - August 30, 2015
De Appel, Amsterdam
July 11 - August 30, 2015
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2015
Altered heater, sweatshirt, wood
15 3/4 x 84 5/8 x 18 1/2 in (40 x 215 x 47 cm)
Sculpture Center, Long Island City
May 3 - August 3, 2015
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2015
Black Lab, latex mask
Dimensions variable
Sculpture Center, Long Island City
May 3 - August 3, 2015
Sculpture Center, Long Island City
May 3 - August 3, 2015
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2015
Two channel video
1:45 minutes, loop
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2014
Spoons, steel and PVC pipe
2 pieces: 21 x 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 in (53.3 x 3.8 x 3.8 cm) each
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2014
Sunflower stalk, t-shirt
19 2/3 x 1 2/3 x 1 3/4 in (50.04 x 4.06 x 4.57 cm)
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2014
Bmx bike frame, water pitcher
38 2/3 x 12 2/3 x 10 2/3 in (98 x 32 x 27 cm)
Zabludowicz Collection, London
June 26 - August 10, 2014
Zabludowicz Collection, London
June 26 - August 10, 2014
Zabludowicz Collection, London
June 26 - August 10, 2014
Power Station, Dallas
February 15 - March 29, 2014
Power Station, Dallas
February 15 - March 29, 2014
Power Station, Dallas
February 15 - March 29, 2014
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2013
Aquarium, water tanks, 2 altered mac laptops, video, color, sound, loop
Dimensions variable
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2013
Pigeon pelt, plastic
10 x 4 in (25.5 x 10 cm)
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2013
Children car seat
26 1/3 x 18 1/2 x 16 3/4 in (67 x 47 x 42.5 cm)
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2013
Altered Ronald McDonald sculpture
15 1/3 x 14 1/2 x 9 1/2 in (39 x 37 x 24 cm)
CAPC Musée d’Art Contemporain de Bordeaux, Bordeaux
November 14, 2013 - February 16, 2014
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2013
Center console of family van, bones
21 1/4 x 14 1/2 x 7 1/2 in (54 x 37 x 19 cm)
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2013
Chicken, rubber, plastic, cotton
20 x 16 in (50.8 x 40.64 cm)
Ludwig Forum Aachen, Aachen
April 21 - June 23, 2013
Michael E. Smith
Dave, 2013
Helmet shells, pigeon
Edition of 5 + 2 APs
12 2/3 x 13 3/4 x 13 in (32 x 35 x 33 cm)
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2013
Plastic chair, saw
37 3/4 x 21 2/3 x 37 1/2 in (96 x 55 x 95 cm)
2012 Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
March 1st - May 27th, 2012
Michael E. Smith
Untitled, 2012
Work glove, steel rods, leather straps
33 7/16 x 5 1/2 x 11 1/4 in (85 x 14 x 28.6 cm)
Michael E. Smith’s sculptures strip everyday objects down to their most minimal state. In his constructions, Smith employs materials both natural and manmade, highlighting a tension between a culture of abundance and the rapid loss of reserves. Organizing the installation of his sculptures and videos around existing architectural features, Smith builds an emotional tenor throughout the spaces of his exhibitions. Tied to their sources, the works reveal the social and economic factors involved in their making. Originating from the discarded elements of our society, they bear with them the accumulated traces of human experience, evoking simultaneously their future and their loss. Michael E. Smith lives and works in Providence, Rhode Island. His work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at institutions that include: Kunsthalle Basel, 2018, SMAK, Ghent, 2017, Kunstverein Hannover, 2015, De Appel, Amsterdam, 2015, Sculpture Center, Queens, 2015, La Triennale di Milano, Milan, 2014, Power Station, Dallas, 2014, CAPC musee d’art contemporain de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, 2013 and Contemporary Art Museum, St Louis, 2011, among others. Smith is included in the 58th Venice Biennale and participated in the 2012 Whitney Biennial. His work has additionally been included in group exhibitions at venues including MoMA PS1, Queens, 2014, Frankfurter Kunstverein, 2014, and MOCA Cleveland, Cleveland, 2013, among others.
Henry Moore Institute is delighted to present an exhibition of new work by American artist Michael E. Smith (born 1977, Detroit), made for the Institute’s main galleries.
Until they are installed in the exhibition, Smith’s sculptures exist as composite parts or what the artist calls ‘material sketches’. It is only when Smith arrives in the gallery, typically working out of hours, that new and complete works will come into existence. Critical juxtapositions are made between different materials, objects and the structures and functions of the gallery’s architecture.
Michael E. Smith's solo exhibition at Pinakothek de Moderne in Munich is on view from September 2 until October 24.
Michael E. Smith is included in a group exhibition at Estancia Femsa that will take place at Casa Luis Barragán in Mexico City. Entitled Emissaries for Things Abandoned by Gods, the exhibition is curated by Elena Filipovic. Estancia Femsa is a cultural and artistic platform hosted by Casa Luis Barragán with the support of Colección FEMSA. With the artistic direction of Eugenia Braniff, the initiative introduces a series of exhibitions, interventions, performance, academic activities, and editorial content that dialogue with the historical context offered by the house, as well as the heritage of Luis Barragán, one of the most relevant architects of the 20th Century. The curatorial program introduces international artists whose work invites the spectator to ponder about the possibilities of the modern and contemporary art disciplines within a particular context.
Andrew Kreps Gallery congratulates our artists on their participation in the 58th Venice Biennale, Darren Bader, Michael E. Smith, and Hito Steyerl as part of May You Live In Interesting Times, curated by Ralph Rugoff.
If I had to elect one artist to elegize the end of if not America, then the industrialized world, it would be Michael E. Smith. Working with found and appropriated materials, which have been known to include everything from animal parts to textiles to car parts to human bone, not to mention everything in-between, Smith creates supremely laconic and darkly comic sculptures that seem to come to us from a future that we would either prefer not to or cannot imagine. Whether or not we, as a species, actually figure in that future is unclear (indeed, whether or not we would even want to figure in it is something else entirely). But something seems to have happened there (where? looming on the horizon) in which the objects, tools and technologies we once used to negotiate it no longer seem to possess the uses for which they were intended. Something has happened. Is happening. Will have happened. Already. Behold these stark and gnarled elegies.
Michael E. Smith (*1977) works with discarded things, resonant with the accumulated traces of their existence, and transformed through the simplest of gestures into captivating, uncannily sentient sculptures. For his first solo exhibition in Switzerland, the Detroit-born artist creates new works that expand his peculiar archaeology of humanity in the 21st century.
Michael E. Smith (b. 1977) transforms found objects into hauntingly sparse sculptures that reveal only the most rudimentary traces of their former function. Composed of natural and synthetic detritus, the sculptures are distilled to abstract, often loosely corporeal forms that highlight the tension between our affinity for excess and penchant for wastefulness. Smith's installations are immersive experiences, rather than straightforward presentations of sculptural objects. Careful consideration of the architectural and ambient features of the exhibition space is integral to his process, as too are the social aesthetics and politics of Smith's hometown of Detroit, which specifically come to bear on this exhibition, the first major museum show by the artist in his native state of Michigan.
