Lucien Smith

Lucien Smith (born 1989) is an American multidisciplinary artist whose abstract works and diverse projects have earned him international acclaim. A graduate of The Cooper Union, he was twice featured in Forbes "30 Under 30" in the category of "Art & Style". Smith was hailed as the art world’s "wunderkind" by The New York Times. He has exhibited at prestigious blue-chip galleries such as Skarstedt and Salon 94, and has had solo exhibitions mounted at major museums. His collaborations span across creative fields, including partnerships with artists like Travis Scott and Virgil Abloh, and he directed a short film narrated by Glenn O'Brien, which was shown at Gagosian Gallery in New York City.

Education Smith graduated with a BFA from the Cooper Union School of Art in 2011.

Art market Artsy estimated in 2014 that Smith generated a total of $3.7 million at auction that year.

Smith is associated with other young painters such Oscar Murillo and Jacob Kassay whose work has appreciated rapidly and are favored by collectors for investment-ready fare. A work from Smith's 2011 Cooper Union graduate show was resold in November 2013 for $389,000.

Serving the People In 2017, Smith launched the Serving the People (STP) an organization building the future of creativity, collaboration, and communication. Guided by a network of creatives and technologists, STP aims to rebuild the infrastructure for cultural participation.

Artworks

Rain Paintings In 2011, Smith executed a suite of abstractions he calls Rain Paintings, which he creates by spraying fire extinguishers filled with paint. In 2014 an example of these works titled Two Sides of the Same Coin sold at Sotheby's Contemporary Art Evening Auction London's first lot for $372,000 against an estimate of $66,000–99,000.

Camo Paintings

In 2014, Smith produced Tigris, a show of 11 camouflage-patterned abstract paintings, inspired by the recollection of the first work of art that strongly impacted him—Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa. The exhibit was described as "undistinguished" and "a shrewd career move".

Exhibitions Solo exhibitions A Day Above Ground is a Good One, Kapp Kapp, New York, 2024 People are Strange, Will Schott Gallery, New York, 2024 Handyman, Lucien Smith Studio, New York, 2024 Southampton Suite, Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, New York, 2020 Lucien Smith Curated by Bill Powers, Half Gallery, Paris, France, 2019 Tulips!, The Fireplace Project, Amagansett, New York, 2018 "Friends", Empty Gallery, New York, 2018 Cosmas & Damian, Moran Bondaroff, Los Angeles, 2017 Ship of Fools, Appointment Only, Los Angeles, 2017 Allergic to Morning, Moran Bondaroff, Los Angeles, 2016 Vicious Cycles, Surf Lodge, Montauk, 2016 Tigris, Skarstedt Gallery, New York, 2014 Nature is my Church, Salon 94, New York, 2013 Scrap Metal, Bill Brady / KC, Kansas City, 2013 A Clean Sweep, Suzanne Geiss, Co., New York, 2013 Good Vibrations, Half Gallery, New York, 2012 Seven Rain Paintings, OHWOW Gallery, Los Angeles, 2012 Needle in the Hay and Cripple Creek, Ritter-Zamet, London, 2011 Imagined Nostalgia, Cooper Union, New York, 2011.

Group exhibitions The Smiths, Marlborough Gallery, London, 2019 MIDTOWN, curated by Jeanne Greenberg and Michele Maccarone, Lever House, New York, 2017 Intimate Paintings, Half Gallery, New York, 2015 Matters of Pattern, Skarstedt, New York, 2015 Prospect New Orleans, curated by Franklin Sirmans, Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans, 2014 Next, Arsenal, Montréal, Canada, 2014 ANAMERICANA, curated by Vincenzo de Bellis, American Academy in Rome, Rome, 2013 The Writing is on the Wall, Jonathan Viner, London, 2013 Sunsets and Pussy, with Ed Ruscha, Betty Tompkins and Piotr Uklanksi, Marianne Boesky, New York, 2013 Merci Mercy, curated by Christine Messineo, 980 Madison Avenue, New York, 2013 Beyond the Object, Brand New Gallery, Milan, 2013 It Ain't Fair 2012, OHWOW Gallery, Miami Beach, 2012 Homebody, The Stillhouse Group, Brooklyn, 2011 It Ain't Fair: Materialism, OHWOW Gallery, Miami, 2011 Objects that Love You Back, curated by Grear Patterson, Stillhouse, New York, 2010 It Ain't Fair 2010, OHWOW Gallery, Miami, 2010 New Deal, curated by Kyle Thurman and Matt Moravec, Art Production Fund Gallery, New York, 2009 May Flowers, curated by Scott Keightley, New York, 2009 I want a little sugar in my bowl, curated by Terence Koh, ASS Gallery, New York, 2009 Stillhouse, Seven Eleven Gallery, New York, 2009.