Richard Smith at Constitution Hill
by Robyn Sassen
Richard Smith has long been an artworld maverick. His exhibition 'Dialogues', comprising drawings and mixed media works, attests to this not only because of his boldness in technique and scale, but also because of his consummate maturity as a draftsperson. This is Smith as few have seen him before.
'Dialogues' comprises three distinct approaches: the large portraits, beautifully worked up in pencil crayon and charcoal, are the most moving. The second series consists of portraits of fantastical heads. Startling in expression and muscularity, these heads are charming in their oddness. They feature collaged elements from other paintings, which breach the notion of communication. In some images, these faces seem to vomit out the collaged objects, in others, ingest them, or even submit to them being poured into their ears or heads. The third series references Greek architecture and icons and subliminal narratives.
Smith began working as a political cartoonist for mainstream newspapers in the late 1960s, following a diploma in Graphic Design. His first solo exhibition took place in London in the early 1970s. In the 1980s he made a living painting landscapes, which he sold through Johannesburg's Everard Read Gallery. In 2003, Smith was head curator of the first Brett Kebble Art Awards.
'Dialogues' re-establishes Smith's work on a critical platform. His approach is not uniform, but shows evidence of the diverse paths he has taken up until this point. Travelling between continents to consolidate an approach to his own work, Smith developed a working methodology not unlike that of Lee Krasner. The ability to rip up an art work made earlier, and use the detritus from that destruction in a new piece of work, is brave indeed. This courage is one of the clear characteristics of Smith's ethos. He appears to have learned that making artwork to supply a demand doesn't necessarily fulfil an artist's needs.
The relationship between the title of the show and works that comprise it is layered. While the fantastical heads interact with one another, through the medium of the bits of destroyed canvas paintings of which they comprise, the large portraits are cluttered with objects. Khwezi with Cyborgs, has plastic action heroes in a state of frozen animation descending across its surface. Another, Richie with Lions has matchboxes, and a third, Raymond with Arums has arum lilies. A dialogical relationship is set up between named sitter and the things represented around him or her.
An additional level of dialogue exists between the works on show and the space where they are shown. Constitution Hill occupies a troubled place in South African history and using it as a venue to exhibit art is inspired. Some of Smith's fantastical characters are called inmates, and indeed, the space which functions as a gallery was once a jail, but beyond this almost semantic balance, the work holds its own, and the aged paintwork on the gallery walls counterpoises with it magnificently.
This exhibition is brave, proving the self-belief of an artist with enough guts to redefine himself as often as he deems necessary. It showcases the power of technique and its strengths lie in Smith's history, which has brought him back to the use of pure skill over conceptual or painterly gesture.
Opened: September 13
Closes: October 2
Constitution Hill
Sam Hancock Street, Hillbrow, Johannesburg
Tel: (011) 381 3100 or (011) 381 3108
Email: taryn@ochre.co.za
www.constitutionhill.org.za
Hours: Mon-Sat 9am-5pm
