COMPASS
Craig Smith
Solo Exhibition
kalashnikovv gallery
COMPASS
A solo presentation by Craig Smith
Art is my compass, painting is the coordinates on the compass that inform me. The work is the direction on the compass I have taken. The map I have used are the cement paintings evolved from Invitation (2021)
I want to create a surface of mysterious possibilities, a call to pick up your compass and travel through your inner-verse, letting the marks on the surface guide you.
The work has developed from the influence of my experience living in Sweden and my journey through its physical and social landscapes
kalashnikovv gallery CRAIG SMITH | COMPASS
CRAIG SMITH
ABOUT
b. 1961 - Johannesburg, RSA
Craig Smith is an artist, photographer and designer. He currently lives and works between Johannesburg, as well as Stockholm, Sweden.
Before committing to painting as his metier, Smith worked as an international and local award-winning production designer in film and in commercial photography.
In this current body of work, Smith’s imagery adopts a surrealist, dreamlike quality. Through layers of abstraction, the works interrogate the artist’s identity as an expat living between Stockholm and Johannesburg. Elements of Greek mythology, classical figuration and natural landscape all collide in Smith’s process-based practice. These subjects are used as a commentary on the history of knowledge preserved within Western societies and institutions, addressing the artist’s own lived experience within South Africa and the country’s colonial past.
Smith’s particular style makes use of a minimalist, yet nuanced approach to working on canvas, in which subtly suggested shapes draw the viewer in, offering the opportunity to connect with the experience of contemplation and discovery. Using stains created first on the back of the canvas, and working over and under them in pencil, ink, charcoal and paint.
Smith, driven by a lifelong fascination with texture, coaxes out seductively composed surfaces. Smith’s own invitation to the viewer is to “slow down, walk your eyes across the surface, stand up close and then step back, and slowly let your mind come to rest, as if you were gazing at a view: everything else should be irrelevant in this moment”.
SELECTED FAIRS
Enter Art Fair, Copenhagen, DEN: 2023
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town, RSA: 2023 / 2020 / 2017 / 2016
FNB Art Joburg Fair, Johannesburg, RSA: 2020 - 2015
RMB Turbine Art Fair, Johannesburg, RSA: 2019 / 2015
SELECTED SOLO & DUO EXHIBITIONS
2023 A Foolish Harmony - Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2021 Invitation – Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2019 It’s Irrelevant Too – 99 Loop Gallery, Cape Town, RSA
2019 It’s Irrelevant – Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2017 Battle Lines – Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2015 Act Naturally II – Salon 91, Cape Town, RSA
2013 Act / Naturally – Room Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 Free Form - Kalashnikovv Gallery & Future Classics Designs, In collaboration with 100% Design, Johannesburg, RSA
2018 Memento Mori – Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2018 A Contemporary Showcase – Graham Contemporary, Johannesburg, RSA
2017 Super Salon II – Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2016 Scramble for Africa – Kalashnikovv Galeri, Berlin, GER
2016 From Whence They Came – Smith Gallery, Cape Town, RSA
2015 Review – ABSA Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2014 In with the New – Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
kalashnikovv gallery CRAIG SMITH | COMPASS
Honorable Member, 2018
Mixed Media on canvas
785 x 1040 mm (framed)
Price on request
CRAIG SMITH | COMPASS
CRAIG SMITH
Outlook, 2024
Mixed Media on canvas
632 x 632 mm (framed)
Price on request
CRAIG SMITH | COMPASS
CRAIG SMITH
The dust of heroes, 2019
Mixed Media on canvas
750 x 535 mm
Price on request
CRAIG SMITH | COMPASS
CRAIG SMITH
The irrelevants of now, 2019
Mixed Media on canvas
1040 x 750 mm
Price on request
CRAIG SMITH | COMPASS
CRAIG SMITH
kalashnikovv gallery
72 6th Street Parkhurst Randburg South Africa www.kalashnikovv.com @kalashnikovvgallery info@kalashnikovv.com
Matthew Dean Dowdle - Co-director
(+27) 083 781 7406 matthew@kalashnikovv.com
MJ Turpin - Co-director (+27) 073 124 8183 mj@kalashnikovv.com
Zanele Kumalo - Associate director (+27) 083 381 8746 zanele@kalashnikovv.com
