David Smith (1906 - 65) is arguably one of the greatest American sculptors of the 20th century, and now he will get recognition for that at the
Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
David Smith: Cubes and Anarchy is the first major thematic exhibition to be devoted to the sculptor.
The exhibition will be in view from 3rd April until 24th July 2011 in the new part of the museum; the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion. The exhibition will show around 100 of Smiths works, that span his entire career as a sculptor, including drawings, paintings and photographs alongside his more known sculptural works.
Famed for his hard-edged geometric style and deeply linked with working class motivations which has seen his work placed under the banner of international constructivism, Smith owed a lot to his early experiences in life when it came to building a career as a sculptor. Smith worked as a welder at the Studebaker automobile factory in Indiana whilst he was a student, and to this he owed the education of manufacturing and building things from raw materials.
With Mondrian, Kandinsky and Picasso noted amongst his influences, Smith was well positioned to produce some fantastically solid, geometrical formations that sit well in the canon of art history, speaking to movements such as Abstract Expressionism and Minimalism.
The show at LACMA looks set to be an excellent comment on Smiths life and career. To find out more about the show, visit the
LACMA website.