METAMORPH Shinique Smith
Front cover: galaxy within, 2024 (detail)
Back Cover: and finally he was a flower in bloom, 2024 (detail)
Shinique Smith METAMORPH
Monique Meloche Gallery
April 6 - May 24, 2024
Introduction by Alyssa Brubaker
Essay by Auttrianna Ward Edited by Staci Boris Photographed by Bob.
This catalogue was published on the occasion of Shinique Smith’s first solo exhibition at Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago.
Introduction by Alyssa Brubaker
moniquemeloche is pleased to present Shinique Smith: METAMORPH, the artist’s first solo exhibition with the gallery. Renowned for her monumental fabric sculptures and abstract paintings of calligraphy and collage, Smith’s wide-ranging practice operates at the convergence of consumption and spiritual sanctuary, balancing forces and revealing connections across space, time, race, gender and place to suggest the possibility of new worlds. Inspired by as the artist refers, her “magical childhood experiences” (from chanting with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, to tagging in a graffiti crew in Baltimore, to attending fashion shows in Paris and New York with her mother), Smith’s practice expresses the wonder, connections and ecstatic moments, that she as a Black woman, finds within textiles, keepsakes and sayings exchanged between her family, friends and travels.
METAMORPH refers to a process of changing form and nature. For the past 20 years, Smith has engaged ideas of transformation through material processes that include hand-dying and bundling gently loved garments into totemic bale sculptures, as well as exploring gesture and movement in her kaleidoscopic paintings and performances. Smith’s exhibition will debut a series of new large-scale collaged paintings incorporating fabric, brocades and embroideries that bring forth a sensual experience of color, light, memory, breath and motion. Reflecting on the complex networks of everyday life, fabric represents the connective tissue linking global histories of trade and consumption to the expanded language of how we describe our place in the universe within the fabric of time. For Smith, fabric and clothing are multimodal and self-referential materials in their ability to shape-shift, reveal and hold meaning. Through the ritual of bundling and tying cloth elements, Smith commemorates the ways we “adorn, wrap and shroud ourselves to symbolize our belonging and articulate the value of our existence.” The artist has amassed a sizable collection of textiles and objects throughout her lifetime. Pattern and color carry both cultural and personal meaning to a place or time, to spiritual significance and to shared histories.
The exhibition further explores metamorphosis through the inclusion of collaged elements and large, sweeping gestures that are evocative of blooming flowers, whirling nebulas or a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis. As Smith describes, “unfolding, unraveling and dancing around the perimeter of the gallery, the paintings are a reminder that everything is in motion and constantly evolving.” Like the butterfly, their evolution on this planet relates directly to the artist’s lifelong journey to grow creatively and spiritually through her personal research and travels. These dynamic compositions as Smith articulates, create a sense of wonder akin to “portals that lead to secret gardens,” inviting viewers into ethereal realms where the poetic and divine intertwine. Language permeates the canvases through Smith’s emblematic calligraphic lines, becoming a principle of order and crafting ceremony in the process of making, akin to writing affirmations or creating prayers.
Through layered and transformative processes, METAMORPH presents intersecting forces of personal history, influence and vibrant energy as seen through Smith’s keen and emphatic lens. Reflecting on her journey of growth, the works on view create a world for herself that she can revel in and share, foregrounding the universality of the human experience and our desire to find wonder in the everyday movements of life.
Creating Space: A Response to the Artist
By Auttrianna Ward
In this first installment of my series of personal essays exploring contemporary artists who deeply resonate with me, I engaged with Shinique Smith on the occasion of her exhibition METAMORPH. Her debut at Monique Meloche Gallery serves as a discourse on womanhood, femininity, and evolution. In her practice, Shinique Smith not only shapes physical environments but also infuses them with movement, inviting viewers to engage actively with her work. As participants in the art of placemaking—whether as curators, writers, or artists—we often ponder how crafting space involves facilitating movement both literally and through introspection. It is through Shinique Smith’s work and her personal articulations surrounding her art that I find inspiration to also explore the interplay between space, movement, and personal expression. Her practice urges me to reflect on my role as a curator, writer, and place maker.
After my initial conversation with Smith about METAMORPH, one question lingered: How is the idea of metamorphosis gendered and are women and Black women artists given space to morph and have the freedom to undergo such transformations? Like her layered canvases, Smith’s answer invited further consideration. “I don’t know if space is necessarily given and who the givers would be? The art world? Galleries? Museums? Audience? In any regard, we must create the space for ourselves and cultivate it for each other.” And so, I began to think of the ways I cultivate space and the boundaries I navigate within my work and as a woman. Time emerges as one of the significant constraints I impose on myself, dictating when, where, and how I create. Smith shared that she has been contemplating a non-linear perspective of time within the making of these works. By using materials that she collected along her 20-year path as an artist, she draws connections across time and space, people and place. And as I relate to the portals explored in METAMORPH, I also consider how much of my own personal pressures of time and space are rooted in gender, race, and the larger art world structures.
Throughout her works, Shinique Smith seamlessly melds materials and mark making to craft intimate compositions brimming with wonder and possibility. METAMORPH follows the artist’s journey through color, pattern, and the movement of her hand spanning across eight paintings which began during the quarantine of 2020 to 2024. These artworks, adorned with ink calligraphy, fabric, and collage on canvas, transform the gallery into both a sanctuary and portal. Smith’s practice evokes both personal connection and universal resonance, inviting viewers to explore further. She draws inspiration from the Lepidoptera, an order of insects encompassing both butterflies and moths. Intentional strokes forming wings evoke both childlike and womanhood connotations associated with the butterfly, reflecting the expansiveness of femininity while embracing the darkness and mystery embodied by moths. Through her exploration of the Lepidoptera, Smith delves into one of the more intimate realms of the female experience—metamorphosis.
METAMORPH, 2024, installation view
As I contemplate works like Portal, 2024, with its dynamic strokes enveloping the canvas, I am reminded to embrace playfulness in my own journey. Incorporating acrylic, ink, graphite, crayon, fabric, and collage, this piece alludes to a green scape holding the presence of butterflies, perpetually hinting at motion. Within this artwork lies not only the freedom to move but also the space to do so. It inspires me to acknowledge my right to evolve and adapt, both within this artistic portal and throughout my personal journey. Smith has stated that her works are an “exchange between herself and the viewer,” which is felt throughout METAMORPH. Time and spatiality, rather than rigid constraints, emerge as fluid concepts ripe for expansion.
Portal, 2024 (detail)
Shinique Smith emphasizes the significance of creating gestures with purpose, stating, “The idea of creating a gesture with purpose is important to me, so I’ve used language as my entry point to create gesture.” In her artistic practice, she combines both intuitive freedom and a sense of intentionality. Whether experiencing her large-scaled public installations or delving into her deeply personal METAMORPH series, this aspect of her approach is palpable. Amidst the myriad impressions I gather from her work, intentionality resonates most profoundly. It’s a testament to the notion that one can navigate freely through the art, allowing it to speak and evolve on its own terms, while still being deliberate and purposeful. This, perhaps, is the profoundest lesson to glean from Shinique Smith’s body of work.
Voice in the air, 2024 (detail)
Smith muses on, “The fluidity of life and the exchange of energy among individuals—where does it originate and conclude? I believe this is a perpetual journey we navigate.” Her words cause me to reflect on the purpose and direction of this exploration. I contemplate the idea of allowing it to exist as it is and instead nurturing a space for inquiry; a realm for curiosity like the realm Smith creates for herself and the viewer. When she discusses her approach to painting, she does so from a place of fluidity; there exists no singular perspective for us as viewers to adopt. There is a boundlessness to the work that inspires me to share an undefined perspective for this personal essay or response to art. Uncertain of where my journey of exploration will ultimately lead, I am thankful that it commenced with an artist who encourages us to question and marvel before we delineate and classify.
and finally he was a flower in bloom, 2024 (detail)
Installation Views
Artworks
and finally he was a flower in bloom, 2024
acrylic, graphite, crayon, collage and fabric on canvas
72 x 48 x 2 in 121.9 x 121.9 x 5.1 cm
74 x 108 x 4 in
188 x 274.3 x 10.2 cm
Metamorph, 2024
acrylic, ink, fabric and collage on canvas
words and names, scroll no 1, 2024
acrylic, fabric, collage on canvas
96 x 24 x 4 in
243.8 x 61 x 10.2 cm
Midnight in my garden, 2024 ink, acrylic, fabric and collage on canvas over wood panel
48 x 36 x 3 in
x 91.4 x 7.6 cm
121.9
Red Swan, 2024
acrylic, ink, vintage fabrics, collage and ribbon on canvas
48 x 48 x 2 in 121.9 x 121.9 x 5.1 cm
Voice in the air, 2024
acrylic, ink, fabric and collage on canvas
84 x 60 x 3 in 213.4 x 152.4 x 7.6 cm
acrylic, ink, graphite, crayon, fabric and collage on canvas
72 x 60 x 2 in
182.9 x 152.4 x 5.1 cm
Portal, 2024
galaxy within, 2024
acrylic, ink, fabric and collage on canvas
102 x 67 x 4 in
259.1 x 170.2 x 10.2 cm
His last breath became a storm, 2022 ink, acrylic, vintage fabrics and collage on canvas
30 x 30 x 1 1/2 in 76.2 x 76.2 x 3.8 cm
Shinique Smith (b.1971, Baltimore, MD) attended the famed Baltimore School for the Arts for high school, Maryland Institute College of Art, obtaining a BFA in 1992 and MFA in 2003. She also received her Master of Arts in Teaching from Tufts University and the Museum School in 2000. Notable solo exhibitions include The Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL, (2023-25); Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, ME, (2023); Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS (2022); Baltimore Museum of Art, MD (2020); California African American Museum, Los Angeles, CA (2018); Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art, Harlem, NY (2017); Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville, FL (2016); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (2015); The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA (2014); Eli and Edyth Broad Art Museum, East Lansing, MI (2014); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (2013); SCAD Museum, Atlanta, GA (2011); Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, Fl (2010); and the Studio Museum in Harlem, Harlem, NY (2009), among others.
Other notable group shows include the Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD; Pérez Art Museum Miami, FL; Smart Museum of Art, Chicago, IL; Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco, CA; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C; and the Newark Museum, NJ, among others. She has created several landmark public works for NY Metro Arts, Chicago Transit Authority, Wabash Arts Corridor Chicago, and USCF Medical Center among others, and has recently launched her monumental new mosaic mural to the public at MLK Jr Crenshaw station as part of the Los Angeles Metro’s New K Line. Smith will present a newly commissioned installation at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields summer 2024.
Public collections include The Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; Brooklyn Museum, NY; Denver Art Museum, CO; Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, IN; Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanas City, MO; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, LA; Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, FL; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA; Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS; Newark Museum of Art, NJ; Rubell Family Collection, Miami, FL; UBS Art Collection, New York, NY; among others. She is the recipient of several awards and prizes including the American Academy of Arts & Letters Purchase Prize, (2022); Anonymous Was a Woman Artist Award (2016); Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award (2013); MICA Alumni Medal of Honor (2012); Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship (2008); and the Aljira Center for Contemporary Arts Fellowship (2005). Smith currently lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.
Photo: Cristina Trayfors
Auttrianna Ward, an independent curator, publisher, and cultural producer, focuses on illuminating narratives within the African Diaspora. Her exploration of Black experiences extends globally, encompassing cities like New York, Chicago, Salvador, Brazil, Los Angeles, and London. With a BA in History from Manhattanville College and an MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Ward is the visionary behind Auttrianna Projects. Leading this Creative Firm and Publishing House, she champions diverse artistic expressions across the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Noteworthy is her earlier initiative, founding Mare Residency, uniting emerging African-descendant artists across Baltimore, San Francisco, and Loiza, Puerto Rico through nomadic residencies.
Her expertise in curating and amplifying marginalized narratives resonates across a global network of acclaimed artists and programs, recognized by grants and fellowships. Her work has been featured in publications including The Observer, LA Times, Cultured Magazine, New Art Examiner, and BmoreArt. Auttrianna’s impactful work spans curatorial endeavors, workshops, and amplification of underrepresented voices, cultivating an extensive international network spanning multiple cities and continents.
Photo: Jenny Abrams
Exhibition Checklist
and finally he was a flower in bloom, 2024
acrylic, graphite, crayon, collage and fabric on canvas
72 x 48 x 2 in
182.9 x 121.9 x 5.1 cm
Metamorph, 2024
acrylic, ink, fabric and collage on canvas
74 x 108 x 4 in
188 x 274.3 x 10.2 cm
words and names, scroll no 1, 2024
acrylic, fabric, collage on canvas
96 x 24 x 4 in
243.8 x 61 x 10.2 cm
Midnight in my garden, 2024 ink, acrylic, fabric and collage on canvas over wood panel
48 x 36 x 3 in
121.9 x 91.4 x 7.6 cm
Red Swan, 2024
acrylic, ink, vintage fabrics, collage and ribbon on canvas
48 x 48 x 2 in
121.9 x 121.9 x 5.1 cm
Voice in the air, 2024
acrylic, ink, fabric and collage on canvas
84 x 60 x 3 in
213.4 x 152.4 x 7.6 cm
Portal, 2024
acrylic, ink, graphite, crayon, fabric and collage on canvas
72 x 60 x 2 in
182.9 x 152.4 x 5.1 cm
galaxy within, 2024
acrylic, ink, fabric and collage on canvas
102 x 67 x 4 in
259.1 x 170.2 x 10.2 cm
His last breath became a storm, 2022 ink, acrylic, vintage fabrics and collage on canvas
30 x 30 x 1 1/2 in
76.2 x 76.2 x 3.8 cm
Monique Meloche Gallery is located at 451 N Paulina Street, Chicago, IL 60622 For additional info, visit moniquemeloche.com or email info@moniquemeloche.com
