Studio Art Professor Michael Smith's fourth solo exhibition with Hales London, in collaboration with Dan Gunn Gallery, presents three recent bodies of work exploring these themes, which he and his performance persona will undoubtedly struggle with for years to come. The exhibition, Yet another show of drawings and videos reflecting on youth, ageing and a future of retirement by Michael Smith, is on view from December 3, 2020 – April 24, 2021.
From Hales:
"For forty years Smith (b.1951 Chicago, IL, USA) has been producing performances, video works, large scale installations, commercial television, puppet shows, photos and drawings that have been shown in a variety of venues and contexts, including museums, galleries, cable television, nightclubs, children’s birthday parties and on the streets. Smith has been at the forefront of a generation of artists interested in crossing over and merging an art world context with popular culture. A prolific artist, Smith often collaborates with other artists, including Joshua White, Mike Kelley, Seth Price and William Wegman. Drawing on aspects and conventions of daily life and mass media, Smith creates witty and ironic works that speak to the trials and tribulations of everyday life as well as to our most human concerns.
In the late 1970s Smith conceived of two characters, who have since been featured in the majority of his works – “Mike,” a naïve, hapless but optimistic everyman, and “Baby Ikki,” a genderless, prelingual, easily-distracted infant. These consistent performance personas have developed and aged with the artist, over the course of many years. In Smith’s far reaching oeuvre, Mike has built a fallout shelter; had his own tv variety show; entered a disco dancing competition; starred in a music video; had a business that went bankrupt; and was an artist with a loft for sale, amongst other pursuits."
The exhibition features a 3D virtual tour on Hales London's website.