Since the mid 1960s, Keith Smith (b. 1938) has taken a non-purist approach to photography and book making. Smith's disinterest in categorizing his work set him apart from his peers and made him a rogue member of both the photography and printmaking departments at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Smith has sewn his photographs into quilts, explored etching, drawing and transferring his images to shoes and fabrics, but sequencing his images in a “book experience” has remained a priority throughout his career. Smith's interest in experimenting with new material and technological processes has resulted in over 280 unique artist books, where the physical object is as important as its content. His works are often radical departures from conventional books–made of string or covered in fabric, they unfold, light-up, do not open, are unbound, or punched full of holes. Time weaves back and forth in Smith's work and certain themes recur: desire, memory, poetry, image repetition, and sequence.
Born in 1938 in Tipton, Indiana, Smith received his B.A.E. from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1967 and his M.S. from the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1968. He has taught at the Visual Studies Workshop, UCLA, The School of the Art institute of Chicago, and the University of Illinois. Since joining Bruce Silverstein, the artist has had four solo exhibitions at the gallery.
Smith’s work has been exhibited widely in the United States and internationally, including the International Museum of Photography, George Eastman House; Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna, Turin; Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. He was included in the Museum of Modern Art’s 1978 survey of American Photography since 1960, alongside prominent artists William Eggleston and Lee Friedlander. In 1988, the Minnesota Center for Book Arts organized a major retrospective of his work. Smith is the recipient of two Guggenheim Fellowships, a National Endowment of the Arts grant, and a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant.
Major museum collections holding works by the artist include the Art Institute of Chicago; Center of Creative Photography, University of Arizona; Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University; International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Getty Museum, Los Angeles; and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Smith is also a popular author of textbooks on books, all published by Keith Smith BOOKS, amongst them 200 Books, an Annotated Bibliography, First Edition, May 2000; Books without Paste or Glue, Non-Adhesive Binding Volume I, The Revised & Expanded Edition, 1999; and Structure of the Visual Book, Expanded Fourth Edition, 2003. He lives and works in Rochester, New York.
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EXHIBITION REVIEW: REWIND: 20TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW
Emily Capone, Musée: Vanguard of Photography Culture, January 10, 2022 -
KEITH A. SMITH AT THE GETTY
The Getty Research Institute, June 26, 2018 -
THE TACTILE PULL OF KEITH SMITH’S BOOK ART
Megan N. Liberty, Hyperallergic, June 21, 2018 -
KEITH A. SMITH Art Forum Critics' Picks
Ratik Asokan, Artforum, March 9, 2017 -
AARON SISKIND, FREDERICK SOMMER, AND KEITH SMITH AT MORGAN LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
The Morgan Library, March 25, 2016 -
KEITH SMITH, THE FABRIC WORKS, 1964-1980
Collector Daily , June 2, 2015
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20th Anniversary Exhibition
REWIND 16 Dec 2021 - 19 Feb 2022 Gallery ExhibitionsBruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to announce REWIND, a celebration of our 20th anniversary. Featuring works selected from over one hundred exhibitions, REWIND is an opportunity to revisit the gallery's...Read more -
Drawing the Line
11 Jul - 30 Aug 2019 Gallery ExhibitionsBruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to announce a group exhibition featuring works by Harry Callahan, Germaine Krull, Shinichi Maruyama, Barbara Morgan, Sigmar Polke, Man Ray, Aaron Siskind, Keith A. Smith,...Read more -
Keith Smith at Home
Philadelphia Museum of Art 17 Feb - 8 Jul 2018 Public Exhibitions -
Keith A. Smith
The Postcards, 1965-Present 9 Mar - 26 May 2017 Gallery ExhibitionsBruce Silverstein is pleased to present Keith A. Smith: The Postcards, 1965-Present, the first exhibition dedicated to the artist’s hand-made cards created over the last five decades. Following Book by...Read more -
Inscribed
10 Dec 2015 - 23 Jan 2016 Gallery ExhibitionsBruce Silverstein / 20 is pleased to present Inscribed.Read more -
Keith Smith
The Fabric Works, 1964-1980 25 Apr - 6 Jun 2015 Gallery ExhibitionsBruce Silverstein is pleased to announce Keith A. Smith: The Fabric Works: 1964 -1980.Read more -
Keith Smith
18 Apr - 1 Jun 2013 Gallery ExhibitionsBruce Silverstein is pleased to present the gallery’s second solo show with the artist Keith Smith. Following a retrospective of Smith’s artist’s books, this comprehensive exhibition is comprised of Smith’s...Read more -
Keith Smith
Book by Book 18 Nov 2011 - 7 Jan 2012 Gallery ExhibitionsBruce Silverstein is pleased to present Book by Book, the gallery’s first solo exhibition by the artist Keith Smith. Smith has been creating books as works of art since the...Read more
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Paris Photo
7 - 10 Nov 2019Works by: Diane Arbus, Eugene Atget, Bill Brandt, Anne Brigman, Harry Callahan, Imogen Cunningham, Louis Draper, Frantisek Drtikol, Elger Esser, Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, Jaromir...Read more -
Frieze Masters
3 - 9 Oct 2019Bruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition of works by multi-disciplinary artist Keith A. Smith. The booth will feature artist books, as...Read more -
AIPAD
4 - 7 Apr 2019Featured artists: Lewis Baltz, Ilse Bing, Constantin Brâncuși, Bill Brandt, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Imogen Cunningham, F. Holland Day, Frantisek Drtikol, Pierre Dubreuil, Walker...Read more -
Paris Photo
8 - 11 Nov 2018Recognized today as one of the most influential figures in modern photography, the Hungarian artist, designer and educator, György Kepes (1906-2001) was one of the...Read more -
Frieze Masters
4 - 7 Oct 2018Featured artists: Diane Arbus, John Baldessari, Constantin Brâncuși, Bill Brandt, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Henri Cartier-Bresson, F. Holland Day, František Drtikol, William Eggleston, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Robert...Read more -
The Photography Show
Presented by AIPAD 5 - 8 Apr 2018Featured Artists: Werner Bischof, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Constantin Brâncuși, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Mark Cohen, Elliot Erwitt, Walker Evans, Mishka Henner, Todd Hido, André Kertész, Dorthea Lange,...Read more -
The Armory Show
8 - 11 Mar 2018Featured Artists: Bernd & Hilla Becher, Constantin Brâncuși, Todd Hido, André Kertész, Alfred Leslie, Louise Nevelson, Man Ray, Gerhard Richter, Ed Ruscha, Cindy Sherman, Aaron...Read more -
The Armory Show
2 - 5 Mar 2017Featured Artists: Constantin Brâncuși, Bill Brandt, Eric Fischl, Mishka Henner, Todd Hido, André Kertész, Alfred Leslie, René Magritte, Shinichi Maruyama. Lisette Model. Max Neumann. Cindy...Read more -
Paris Photo
10 - 13 Nov 2016Bruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to present at Paris Photo an exhibition inspired by one of the cornerstones of modern art, F. Holland Day’s seminal...Read more -
Frieze Masters
6 - 9 Oct 2016Featured artists: Constantin Brancusi, Marie Cosindas, F. Holland Day, André Kertész, Alfred Leslie, László Moholy-Nagy, Paul Outerbridge, Irving Penn, Man Ray, Alexander Rodchenko, Aaron Siskind,...Read more -
AIPAD
14 - 16 Apr 2016At the 2016 AIPAD Photography Show, Bruce Silverstein Gallery is proud to present Triumph of the Egg , featuring works of the same title by...Read more -
The Armory Show
3 - 6 Mar 2016Featured Artists: Irving Penn, Henry Moore, Frederick Sommer, Constantin Brancusi, Shinichi Maruyama, Max Neumann, Eileen Neff, Aaron Siskind, Mishka Henner, André Kertész, Ed Ruscha, Larry...Read more -
Frieze Masters
15 - 19 Oct 2014 -
New York Art Book Fair
Keith Smith - Book by Book: 2nd Edition 26 - 28 Sep 2014For the 2014 NYABF Bruce Silverstein Gallery will present Book by Book: 2nd Edition, an installation by the renowned book artist, Keith A. Smith. The...Read more