Lucien Smith

[vlcane]

I have seen Lucien's work and in my opinion it is far from ordinary. You are talking about a young talent who has just recently started his art career. He has attained an incredible amount of press lately and yes his work is being collected by many but I think it is rather early to judge an artist in his twenties. Many artist his age would die to have the opportunity to work (mentor) by low man or colen.
Just my opinion.

[mose]

I am all for discussing opinions and thank you for sharing.

Personally, I think, yes, it is rather early to judge - positively. There are 1,000,001 artists out there trying to make a living. The burden of proof is on them why they should be considered signal and not just noise.

If history is any indication, of the 1001 artists we look at on these forums, only 5 will mean anything at all. These 5 will be setting new standards, forcing new ideas to become mainstream, and will look like nothing that has come before but much will look like after.

Am I describing what we've seen from Smith so far? Because, to me, what I've seen from Smith so far is very much like I've seen in high school art classes and local art colleges.

Young is usually dumb. Thank God the abstract expressionists weren't getting solo shows or much attention at all until they were in their 40's(or older in some instances). Otherwise, Pollock may be best (un)known as a painter of very limited talent who churns out maudlin American regionalist paintings, Mark Rothko would be a surrealist of little note, and de Kooning a housepainter in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Smith may very well be interesting in the future, but he is going to have to move far beyond his very obvious influence in order to get there. That comes with time and age, and its obvious, to me at least, that Smith needs much more of both.

[vlcane]

Mose, I understand and agree to a certain degree in regards to your statement about young artists. I feel though that Lucien's work has promise and I am expecting a lot from this YOUNG artist.

[vlcane]

watermillcenter.org/benefit

Lucien include in the Watermill benefit in honor of Mike Kelley.

Pretty good list of artist.

I also saw on Oh Wow he is having a solo show next month.

[sam.register]

there's millions of artists out there. on the artwork alone, there's no reason to give this guy that much hype.

[sam.register]

"OHWOW is pleased to announce Seven Rain Paintings, Lucien Smith’s first solo exhibition with the gallery. This series of work on unprimed canvas conjure assumptions of accidental gesture along with the distance between artist and yield implied by this genre of expression. Contrary to those notions, these paintings are both orchestrated and intimate by way of their execution and intent. Smith’s exhibition argues with the aesthetic of chance, or that of painting as ornament. Utilizing organic and mechanical installation elements within the gallery, which relate to the canvases, he creates a relational environment; the paintings activate and challenge passive experience."

why don't they just write splattered paint on plain canvas? done.

[rosenblumari]

New body of work on the way from Lucien Smith - "Smokers Paintings"

[avert]

paintings???

from this image looks way more like "Smokers Vinyl Stickers"

the more i see, the less impressed i am. questions are arising.

[afroken]

Let's hope there's more to this than meets the eye.

[rizza79]

Jul 16, 2012 13:05:30 GMT -8 afroken said:

Let's hope there's more to this than meets the eye.

I have been on the fence with this kid from the beginning and while he has managed to sell a bunch of work without ever even really having a show, which I find quite odd personally, I feel like your quote sums up not only these stickers/signs/paintings but his whole deal thus far.

[afroken]

Fair comment. Time will tell I guess. Personally I think the large rain paintings are incredible but who knows where it will head. There have certainly been a couple of recent moves that I haven't been impressed by. But to be fair, the work is priced at the right level for an artist at this early stage. He's a risk but not a particularly big one. If the hype were translating into stupid prices then that would be a different matter.

[rizza79]

time will definitely tell as is the case with all this stuff. I agree that the rain paintings are definitely strongest at a larger scale. However, I have only seen a handful that I would consider owning(yours being one of them). I was offered some of the 8x6ft ones and passed because I didn't feel they were strong enough to warrant spending 10k even at that size. maybe I am skeptical but something just seems off. I could see if he had an established signature style but he is so raw its almost a little much imo. he hasn't made any work that someone can say that is Lucien Smith's work.

[epicfai]

Jul 16, 2012 7:23:08 GMT -8 rosenblumari said:

sign in the foreground translated from german:
"Smoking can kill"

sign in the background translated from italian:
"Smoking kills"

[vlcane]

Where is this new work being exhibited?
I am either stating that is is good work or bad, but give the young man some time to build a career.

[klime21]

i think were being overly critical. were talking about about a career that has barely even started. i gained interested in his work after his "Imagined Nostalgia" exhibition at Cooper Union. that was a college thesis?! which means he's probably been out of school less then a year.. i was lucky enough to be in London during his first show and i was blown away by the rain painting, i don't think any young artists right now are producing anything that can really stand up to this body of work, and to reach that caliber at such a young age i think definitely makes him someone to keep an eye on. I'm really excited to see what is to come from his next exhibition with OHWOW.

[rizza79]

i can see how some comments that have been made(myself included) can be viewed as "overly critical", but the way he is being pushed/hyped/sold/etc sort of warrants the extra criticism. aside from the rain paintings being aesthetically pleasing, there isn't much going on. we are talking about a young kid shooting paint from a fire extinguisher in some tent or backyard in upstate NY. Hardly anything really next level IMO. I guess when you put it into some pretty art world conceptual lingo, it can be viewed differently. I just have a hard time at not looking at it for what it is. as far as the exhibition from OHWOW, I believe the press release says its a few small scale rain paintings and large rain paintings. hardly an exhibition if you ask me considering they have been selling these rain paintings for the past year. If anything, it attempts to justify them further by formally showing them in an exhibition/gallery setting.

[afroken]

Actually I think you've nailed what makes him interesting at this point in time for me. A young kid shooting paint from a fire extinguisher in a backyard, the gym mats, etc. He's shooting from the hip and it works for now. But it's a path that McGinley and Colen went down and you can only stay young and credible for so long before it begins to look forced and contrived. Smith's challenge will be to maintain that youthful exuberance and continue to communicate it with integrity. That, to me, is the corner that he's creating for himself so he either needs to take it to the next level or move on, and in either case it's anybody's guess whether he'll succeed. But I think so far so good, cheerios and alleged smokers paintings aside.

Plus unfortunately there's also the elephant in the room which is the fact that many artists today get to where they are because of their own personal profile and I suspect that Lucien is A-Ron's pet project. Let's hope that Mr Bondaroff shows him more patience and allows him more longevity than he does a t-shirt or a label.

[rizza79]

I respect how he is shooting from the hip. You also nailed something that worries me a little bit as well. With him being so young and impressionable, it may be a little shaky ground letting A-Ron run your career from jump street. Like you mentioned, Lucien is not a T-Shirt or label but rather a young artist with potential. However, he is being hyped and pumped out the back of the gallery sort of like the next coolest T-Shirt. Time will tell. I will be anxious to see his first real exhibition after the OHWOW Rain Painting show.

[vlcane]

www.artinfo.com/photo-galleries/slideshow-the-19th-annual-watermill-center-summer-benefit?image=9

Watermill sculpture

[80]

ExhibitionA print is open for preorders now, inkjet on canvas. Wish it was screenprinted but hey.

[avert]

i'm not sure if i respect lucien for only making art that makes me say, "i could have made that!!" of if he bothers me for only making art that i feel that i could have made.

a flag pole with stacked tires? really?

[sleepboy]

[slipry]

Aug 1, 2012 13:00:57 GMT -8 80 said:

ExhibitionA print is open for preorders now, inkjet on canvas. Wish it was screenprinted but hey.

I was just wondering how this looked in person.

If anybody bought one, I would love for you to share your thoughts ;D

[vlcane]

Lucien has a solo show opening at Oh Wow on Saturday. Did anyone pick up one of his new works?
Best regards

[afroken]

Anyone go to the opening last night? I understand that the 7 Rain paintings were all large scale light blue works. I'd love to see photos of the installation though.