“Its Not All Black and White” A New Exhibit by Andrew A. Smith Opens in June

Andrew A. Smith’s latest exhibit titled ITS NOT ALL BLACK AND WHITE, opens in the Oresman Gallery at the Larchmont Public Library on June 2, and will continue to be on view through June 29. Additionally, there will be a reception in the Oresman Gallery on Saturday, June 3, from 2:00 to 4:00pm. Everyone is invited.

Andrew A. Smith is an artist with a law degree and a lawyer with a degree in art. He is also a photographer and oil painter. His photography, which is almost exclusively on 35mm and larger film, includes oft-neglected small details in our world. His paintings include portraits and translations of his nature and seascape photographs. Andrew was born in Kingston, Jamaica and now resides in Pelham, New York.

Smith grew up in a glorious period for comic books and cartoons. While immersed in the likes of X-Men, Transformers, G.I. Joe, Voltron, He-Man and Battle of the Planets, he studied Bible stories, consumed world history and studied mythology. Early on, Smith made pencil and black ink drawings of what he read and saw, and then he wrote and illustrated his own fantasy creations. Later, he added markers, airbrush and colored pencil creating art in “mixed media.”

While Smith has dabbled in portraits, animal drawings and the odd landscape, comics and fantasy constituted the vast majority of his work. “For a socially-awkward, self-conscious only child, part of my stability came from larger-than-life figures”, said Smith. “I gravitated to characters who lived without limits. They controlled dreams, influenced gravity and rode fire-breathing horses as their Egyptian, Roman and Zulu armor gleamed on their bodies. I created black and Native American characters: animating and “animating” certain segments of our society”.

Smith continues, “I am not sure if I made a conscious attempt to ground my work in more “realistic” themes, but in 2010 I painted my first oil portrait. While I originally wanted to do a drawing, I embraced the challenge of oil”. By 2010, Smith was not drawing that much, but he viewed that initial portrait and his subsequent paintings as teaching himself to “draw with a paintbrush.” For Smith, oil has been an evolutionary step from illustration but it does not serve as a replacement.

2010 was also the year that Smith purchased his first “serious” camera. Much of Smith’s photography focuses on the small details in our world. After beginning with digital photography, Smith switched to film in mid-2013. For Smith, film is a contemplative, deliberate medium, which slows down his thinking but speeds up his creative process. It serves as a corollary to his oil work, and he will sometimes paint from his photographs. Smith says, “My oil and film work are like chess to me. I need to continue to learn how the pieces move, as I aspire to play the game with as much skill as I can muster”.

For more information about Andrew A. Smith, visit the artist online at www.filmandoil.com