Keith Smith (b. 1938) is a pioneering book artist whose practice blends photography, printmaking, drawing, and unconventional materials to expand the possibilities of the book form. Over more than five decades, he has created more than 300 unique artist’s books that often resist traditional structures. Smith’s books are stitched, folded, unbound, or pierced with holes, transforming sequence and structure into essential elements of meaning. His works explore memory, desire, poetry, and identity in ways that unfold across time.
Born in Tipton, Indiana in 1938, Smith studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (B.A.E., 1967) and earned an M.S. in Photography from the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1968. While still a student, he held his first solo exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago. Smith has since exhibited internationally with major solo exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (1975), the Minnesota Center for Book Arts (1988), the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (2000), and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which presented the retrospective Keith Smith at Home in 2018. Since joining Bruce Silverstein Gallery, he has had five solo exhibitions and is regularly included in group shows.
Smith’s work is represented in the permanent collections of leading institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, George Eastman Museum, Rochester, NY, the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. He has been recognized with numerous awards, among them two Guggenheim Fellowships (1972 and 1980), a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship (1978), New York Foundation for the Arts support (1985), and a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant (2002).
Alongside his studio practice, Smith has been a prolific educator and author. He has taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, UCLA, the University of Illinois, and the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester. His influential instructional texts, such as Structure of the Visual Book and Books Without Paste or Glue, have become foundational references for artists and bookbinders worldwide.
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Brilliant Things to Do This August
AnOther Magazine Featuring 'In Sequence'Daisy Woodward, AnOther Magazine, August 4, 2025 -
In Sequence | Bruce Silverstein Gallery
Amy Wei , Musee Magazine, June 23, 2025 -
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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In Sequence
26 Jun - 29 Aug 2025 Gallery ExhibitionsBruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to present In Sequence , a group exhibition that brings together the works of Adger Cowans, Elger Esser, Todd Hido, Dakota Mace, Barbara Morgan, Ed...Read more -
Summer Glow
11 Jul - 7 Sep 2024In photography, light is the medium’s essence, shaping each photograph’s composition, mood, texture, and depth. During the long days of summer, light evolves from the soft, diffused glow of the...Read more -
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...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 Outside 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...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...Read more
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AIPAD 2025
23 - 27 Apr 2025 -
AIPAD 2022
20 - 22 May 2022 -
PARIS PHOTO 2019
7 - 10 Nov 2019Bruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition that will include both iconic and lesser known photographs by some of the most important photographic...Read more -
FRIEZE MASTERS 2019
3 - 6 Oct 2019For Frieze Masters 2019, Bruce Silverstein will display a series of photographic masterworks from the 20th century including works by Brâncuși, Baldus, Kertész, Steichen, Model,...Read more -
AIPAD 2019
4 - 7 Apr 2019 -
PARIS PHOTO 2018
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 2018
4 - 7 Oct 2018For Frieze Masters 2018, Bruce Silverstein Gallery would be pleased to present a selection of photographic masterpieces from the twentieth century created in the spirit...Read more -
AIPAD 2018
5 - 8 Apr 2018 -
THE ARMORY SHOW 2018
8 Mar 2018 - 11 Mar 2019 -
AIPAD 2017
30 Mar - 2 Apr 2017 -
THE ARMORY SHOW 2017
2 - 5 Mar 2017For The Armory Show 2017 Bruce Silverstein Gallery will present an exhibition of paintings and photographs by Alfred Leslie, Paul Outerbridge, Eric Fischl, Todd Hido,...Read more -
PARIS PHOTO 2016
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 2016
6 - 9 Oct 2016 -
AIPAD 2016
14 - 17 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 two...Read more -
THE ARMORY SHOW 2016
3 - 6 Mar 2016 -
PARIS PHOTO 2015
12 - 15 Nov 2015 -
AIPAD 2015
16 - 19 Apr 2015 -
THE ARMORY SHOW 2015
5 - 8 Mar 2015For the Armory Show 2015 Bruce Silverstein Gallery proposes an exhibition with a theme and focus encapsulated by the title, 'Low Culture'. Spanning multiple decades,...Read more -
PARIS PHOTO 2014
13 - 16 Nov 2014 -
Frieze Masters 2014
15 - 19 Oct 2014For Frieze Masters 2014 Bruce Silverstein Gallery proposes a solo exhibition of the work of Keith Smith, an American artist active in the 1960s-80s. This...Read more -
NEW YORK ART BOOK FAIR 2014
26 - 28 Sep 2014Bruce Silverstein Gallery will present an installation, Book by Book: 2nd Edition, by the renowned book artist, Keith Smith at the New York Art Book...Read more -
AIPAD 2014
10 - 13 Apr 2014 -
ART BASEL MIAMI 2013
5 Dec 2013 - 8 Dec 2015For Art Basel Miami Beach, Bruce Silverstein Gallery proposes an exhibition of rare vintage prints from the Equivalents series 1925-34, created by the artist and...Read more -
PARIS PHOTO 2013
14 - 17 Nov 2013 -
AIPAD 2013
4 - 7 Apr 2013 -
THE ARMORY SHOW 2013
7 - 10 Mar 2013 -
ART BASEL MIAMI 2012
6 - 9 Dec 2012For Art Basel Miami Beach, Bruce Silverstein Gallery proposes an exhibition of Constantin Brancusi’s photographs—rare vintage prints by the artist from the 1920s and 30s....Read more -
PARIS PHOTO 2012
15 - 18 Nov 2012 -
AIPAD 2012
29 Mar - 1 Apr 2012 -
THE ARMORY SHOW 2012
8 - 11 Mar 2012 -
ART BASEL MIAMI 2011
1 - 4 Dec 2011For Art Basel Miami Beach, Bruce Silverstein Gallery proposes an exhibition exploring the notion of form as subject. We will display works by André Kertész,...Read more -
PARIS PHOTO 2011
10 - 13 Nov 2011For Paris Photo 2011, Bruce Silverstein Gallery proposes an exhibition exploring the notion of form as subject. We will display works by André Kertész, Edward...Read more -
FRIEZE 2011
13 - 16 Oct 2011The artworks chosen by Bruce Silverstein Gallery for Frieze 2011 highlight five contemporary approaches to the image/camera-based medium. The series New Landscapes by Yao Lu,...Read more