maus contemporary - Leslie Smith III

An abstract painter, Smith explores both the complexity of the non-representational and the expansiveness created by working on non-traditional supports. Not content with being confined by the linearity of the rectangle or the square, Smith explodes the confines of geometry with custom designed shaped canvas supports that would seem accidental were they not so absolutely intentional, their soft edges falling away, drifting, challenging viewers’ expectations and creating tensions that are almost unimaginable.
Smith uses this tactic in works of varying scales. Night Twitch and Night Baptism (both shown lower on this page) seem like an inverted mirrored pair, each set in tension with the other, their surfaces arrayed with the gestures of Smith’s markmaking, their curved edges rolling away from and under the other. Although black at first glance, they are in fact studies in tone and texture, filled with chiaroscuro, subtle plays of both stillness and motion.

Smith’s painting Night Mass (shown on left), an intimate 27 by 27 inch work, continues this exploration, its surface filled with subtle geometric shapes that emerge at the top and the hint of a horizon line lower. This oscillation between abstraction and the use of concrete forms creates and even more discernable tension within each work.

Smith’s understandings of pictorial space in abstraction come roaring forward in another new work, Night at the Orchestra (shown lower on this page), which takes the depths of Night Mass and adds a spatial geometry, pushing forward and into the viewers’ space. Copy Cat (shown lower on this page), a new 48 x 48 inch painting, literally feels as if it could leap off the wall. Its forms seem as if they could reflect, veil and reveal at precisely the same moment as Smith pushes viewers away, holds them close and pulls them through in the same moment. Smith understands the complexities of abstraction and he uses both the surfaces and the structures of his works to create tensions that are palpable. His works are filled with suggestions of the familiar. They are both wondrous and comforting.

Ready or Not

2014
oil on shaped canvas
ca. 29.5 by 26 in.

Exposed

2014
oil on shaped canvas
ca. 27 by 27 in.

Drifter

2014
oil on shaped canvas
ca. 27 by 27 in.

Night Mass

2013
oil on shaped canvas
ca. 27 by 27 in.

He Wore Glasses To See Straight

2014
oil on shaped canvas
ca. 36 by 36 in.

private collection, Washington, DC

Night Twitch

2013
oil on shaped canvas
ca. 42 by 42 in.

Dweller

2014
oil on shaped canvas
ca. 27 by 27 in.

private collection, Washington, DC

Juliet's Big City Dreams

2013
oil on shaped canvas
ca. 27 by 27 in.

private collection, Birmingham, AL

Night Baptism

2013
oil on shaped canvas
ca. 42 by 42 in.

private collection, Washington, DC

Honest Boy

2013
oil on shaped canvas
ca. 42 by 42 in.

private collection, Washington, DC

The Nightmare

2013
oil on shaped canvas
ca. 66 by 66 in.

Lay Away

2013
oil on shaped canvas
ca. 66 by 66 in.

private collection, Birmingham, AL

Copy Cat

2013
oil on shaped canvas
ca. 48 by 48 in.

private collection, Washington, DC

Morning After

2012
oil on canvas
ca. 40 by 60 in.

private collection, Los Angeles, CA

Bather

2011
oil on linen
ca. 26 by 26 in.

Near Window

2011
oil on linen
ca. 26 by 26 in.

How Long Has This Been Going On

2012
oil on canvas
ca. 40 by 60 in.

Gladiator

2011
oil on linen
ca. 26 by 26 in.

Airplane

2012
oil on canvas
ca. 26 by 26 in.

You First

2012
oil on linen
ca. 26 by 26 in.

private collection, Birmingham, AL

Viennese Waltz

2012
oil on canvas
ca. 48 by 48 in.

private collection, Birmingham, AL

Self

2012
oil on linen
ca. 26 by 26 in.

private collection, Birmingham, AL

Airplane Stalker

2011
ink, acrylic, and glitter on paper
ca. 22.5 by 15 in.

private collection, Mobile, AL

click on above image to read a review ofLeslie Smith' beta pictoris gallery exhibition As I Remembered

click on above image for additional information on this exhibition at CAM