Christopher Smith Works

Chris Smith, Sankofa Kore, 2011 Glass fiber reinforced cement 72" x 14" x 22"

"My sculpture comes out of the various traditions of statue making. When I observe people in social gatherings and private settings I continually see the past traditions of figurative sculpture assert themselves through the poses, attitudes, and physiques of my contemporaries. With the past present all around me I investigate the ancient forms and methods of depicting the body and spirit along wtih the notions they were meant to communicate. I am compelled to have a conversation with those ancient forms and my sculpture is the result of that dialogue. While I sculpt the forms from direct observation of a live model, a gradual change occurs to the exterior form where it no longer relies on a mimetic process, but an inherent abstract formality, a past contained within the bones of the idea which begins to direct the composition and the asthetics. " - Chris Smith

Chris Smith

Seraphin Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2022

14th Annual Nude, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH

2021

Face to Face, Site:Brooklyn Gallery, Brooklyn, NY Julia Fiore Juror

WHERE WHEN WHAT WHY WHO, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH

2020

12th Annual NUDE, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH

2019

Biggs Body 2019, Biggs Museum of American Art, Dover, DE

Fleisher Faculty Show, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA

The Body Exhibition, Site: Brooklyn Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, Benjamin Sutton Juror

Just In: Recent Acquisitions in Sculpture and Relief, Woodmere Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA

2018

85th Annual Juried Exhibition, Hudson Valley Art Association , Old Lyme, CT

85th Annual Award Exhibition, National Sculpture Society, Brookgreen Gardens, SC

Fleisher Art Memorial 119th Annual Faculty Exhibition, Philadelphia, PA

2017

The English Romantic Poets, Dohm Alley, Pinceton, NJ

84th Annual Award Exhibition, National Sculpture Society, Brookgreen Gardens, SC

Fleisher Art Memorial 118th Annual Faculty Exhibition, Philadelphia, PA

Cerulean Arts' 5th Annual Juried Exhibition, Philadelphia, PA

A More Perfect Union? Power, Sex, and Race in the Representation of Couples, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA

Sixth Annual Art Show, Malvern Retreat House, Malvern, PA

Fourth Biennial Winter Group Show: Snowflake, Philadelphia, PA

2016

Master Sculptor Group Exhibition, Rainey Sculpture Pavilion of Brookgreen Gardens, SC

Fleisher Faculty Exhibit, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA

The Nude Figure: Juried Exhibition, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA

2015 Keeping It Real: Recent Acquisitions of Narrative and Realist Art, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA

Telling Stories, Annual Juried Exhibition, GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading, PA

82nd Annual Awards Exhibition, National Sculpture Society, Brookgreen Gardens, SC

Fleisher Faculty Exhibit, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA

2014 Depth of Field, Seraphin Gallery, Philadelphia, PA Selected Group Exhibition, Galleriet, Strömstad, Sweden

2013 81st Annual Hudson Valley Art Association Juried Exhibition, Old Lyme, CT 80th Annual Awards Exhibition, National Sculpture Society, Tampa Museum of Art and Brookgreen Gardens, SC Masters and Mavericks, Seraphin Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2012 79th Annual Awards Exhibition, National Sculpture Society, Brookgreen Gardens, SC Beyond Rodin: Contemporary Figure Sculpture, Rye Arts Center, Rye, NY Haunting Narratives: Detours from Philadelphia Realism, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA Sculpture for a New Century, SUNY Orange, Newburgh, NY

Fleisher Faculty Exhibit, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA

2011 Contemporary Sculpture at Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA Sculpture New Hope, New Hope Arts, New Hope, PA

Fleisher Faculty Exhibit, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA

2010 Contemporary Sculpture at Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA Ellarslie Open, Trenton City Museum, Trenton, NJ

Fleisher Faculty Exhibit, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA

2009 Sculpture, The Noyes Museum of Art, Hammonton, NJ Visiting Artists Exhibition, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, IL Annual Juried Show, Abington Art Center, Jenkintown, PA Form in Space, Payne Gallery at Moravian College, Bethlehem, PA

2008 Solo Faculty Fellowship Show, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA Gallery in the Garden, Hawk Mountain, PA Buckingham Valley Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit, Buckingham, PA Fleisher Faculty Exhibition, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA 3rd Annual Juried Show, Kinsey Institute, Bloomington, IN

2007 Fleisher Faculty Exhibition, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA Uninhibited, Touchet Gallery, Baltimore, MD Field of Vision, Penn State Berks, Reading, PA JMS Gallery, Chestnut Hill, PA Art in City Hall: Metals and More, Philadelphia, PA

2006 Zelli Porcelain Award Juried Show, London Buckingham Valley Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit, Buckingham, PA Sculpture New Hope, New Hope Arts, New Hope, PA Fleisher Faculty Exhibition, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA 72nd Annual Awards Exhibition, National Sculpture Society, New York and Brookgreen Gardens, SC

2005 Gallery in the Garden, Hawk Mountain, PA Contemporary Sculpture at Chesterwood, Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA Sticks and Stones: The Making of a Sculpture Garden, Devault, PA 71st Annual Awards Exhibition, National Sculpture Society, New York

2004 JMS Gallery, Chestnut Hill, PA Reflections of Nature, Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA 70th Annual Awards Exhibition, National Sculpture Society, New York and Brookgreen Gardens, SC

2003 Realism 2003 II, Stage Gallery, Massapequa, NY National Spring Open Juried Exhibition, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA Artists’ House Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2002 Art of the State, Susquehanna Art Museum, Harrisburg, PA 23rd Annual Juried Show, Abington Center for the Arts, Abington, PA

2001 Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

1999 Wall-to-Wall Nudes, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

1998 Mayfair National Juried Fine Arts Exhibition, Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA 21st Annual Bucks County Sculpture Show, Doylestown, PA Figurative Small Works Exhibition, Robert and Mary Montgomery Armory Art Center, West Palm Beach, FL

1997 20th Annual Bucks County Sculpture Show, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, PA Figures at an Exhibition, Third Street Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

1987 New Works, Pavillion Gallery, Mt. Holly, NJ The Human Form, Loft Gallery, Cincinnati, OH

Work in collections Brookgreen Gardens, SC Seven Bridges Foundation, Greenwich, CT Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA

Affiliations

Member of Hudson Valley Art Association Elected into the National Sculpture Society as Fellow, 2013 Elected as a board member of The National Sculpture Society, 2013–2016

Awards

Pietro Montana Memorial Award, Hudson Valley Art Association, 2018

Rainey Master Sculptor Residency at the Carroll A. Cambell, Jr. Center for American Sculpture, 2016

Best in Sculpture, The Nude Figure: Juried Exhibition, Wayne Art Center 2016 Frank C. Wright Medal of Honor, American Artists Professional League, 2013 Edith H. and Richman Proskauer Prize, National Sculpture Society, 2013 Pietro Montana Memorial Award, Hudson Valley Art Association, 2013 Lillian Heller Curator’s Award, Chesterwood, 2010 Dene M. Louchheim Faculty Fellowship, Fleisher Art Memorial, 2008 Teaching portion, Frank Gasparo Memorial Fellowship, Fleisher Art Memorial, 2007 and 2003 20th Annual Gary Long Memorial Lecture, Fleisher Art Memorial, 2006 Third Place in Sculpture, 2nd International ARC Salon Competition, 2005 Pietro Montana Memorial Award, 70th Annual Awards Exhibition, National Sculpture Society, 2003 First Prize, 21st Annual Bucks County Sculpture Show, 1998

Commissions

Screech Owl Pediment, Private Residence Ambler, PA, 2018

Heritage Ship Relief Sculpture HMS Vanguard, The Vanguard Group, Malvern, PA, 2015 Brawlin Spitfire Wrestlers, sculpture for artist Mickalene Thomas, Cerealart, 2007 Wall ornament series, Shrine for Our Lady of Guadalupe, La Crosse, WI, 2007 Two, 7-panel friezes for video teleconference rooms, GlaxoSmithKline, Conshohocken, PA, 2002 Compass Rose sculpture used in photography, The Vanguard Group, Malvern, PA, 2000 “Squid” newel post and banister, Henri David, jeweler, Philadelphia, PA, 1992 For sculptor Stephen Robin: Assisted on enlarging plaster patterns, Trenton War Memorial Project, Trenton, NJ, 2001 Assisted on enlarging two direct plaster patterns for casting in aluminum, General Services Administration for the Ronald Reagan Federal Building, Federal Triangle, Washington, D.C., 1995

Teaching Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA, 2006-present Visiting Artist, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, IL, 2009 Teacher in conjunction with Dirt on Delight, Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA, 2009 University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA, 2006 Mainline Art Center, Haverford, PA, 2003 Whitemarsh Community Art Center, Lafayette Hill, PA, 2000-2002