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American Abstract Painter born in
the State of Rhode
Island,
the youngest of four children, WL Smith grew up
on the Southern
California
coast during a time of profound social and
political events in the late 1960's and 70's.
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Smith's
mother's family emigrated from Portugal to the United States in the early
1900's settling in Rhode Island.
Smith’s
father, a businessman and non-profit
organizer is a descendent of Anne Hutchinson, notable 1600's
settler to England's American Colonies in
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New
Netherlands.
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background in economics, political
science, and psychology, Smith’s
corporate career included positions as |
corporate trainer, and in
risk management, accounting, and
administration within most facets of the
healthcare benefits industry. Described
by some as a recluse, in 2000 Smith
started a Web Development company
catering to the fine arts industry.
Smith
has been active in a wide range of
progressive causes including the initial
response to the AIDS crisis in the early
1980's, healthcare and campaign finance
reform, and served four consecutive years
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as board
member and Art Director of the Laguna
Canyon Nature Conservancy.
Smith's
personal interests include human and
animal rights, history, physics,
astrophysics, genetics, mathematics,
sociology, neuropsychology, national
politics, most bodies of law, sustainable
design, environmentalism, photography,
and nature.
Smith's
list of most regarded people includes his
mother who passed in 2003, Noam Chomsky, Edward R Murrow, |
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emerged taking a social
narrative direction and first featured
cast-off materials. Smith creates his Social Realism paintings on the
floor of his studio using non-traditional
methods like hands, trowels, flatware,
rags, etc.
Best
known for his mixed media paintings
featuring cast-off |
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(found objects), Smith has also worked in
sculpture |
made from
cast-off materials, painted architectural
murals, and has consulted on various
interior and landscape design projects.
In
2008 Smith spent a year on hiatus in Connecticut and New York, and happened to
be on 42nd Street in Manhattan on
election night as the entire city |
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when it was announced that Barack Obama had been elected
our 44th president. |
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Early
in 2009, after returning from the east
coast, Smith relocated his studio off
North Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs, California,
located in the spectacular Coachella
Valley, 111 miles (177km) east of Los Angeles, and surrounded by
the San Bernardino Mountains to the
north, the Santa Rosa Mountains to the
south, and the San Jacinto Mountains to
the west.
Smith
considers himself to be more a journalist
than a painter.
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"I imagine one could
say that in many ways, much of what goes
into my work is post consumer
waste."
"If your not part of
the solution, you are
the problem."
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SOLO
2005 Indifference –
Portfolio; Long Beach.
2005 Left Behind – Open;
Long Beach.
2002 Yesterday – Portfolio;
Long Beach.
1998 In A NutsHell –
Artscape; Long Beach.
1997 Hindsight – Portfolio;
Long Beach.
1995 Degrees of Perspective
– TOMA; Long Beach.
1994 Alternative Perception –
Portfolio; Long Beach.
1994 Beyond Abstraction –
City Frameworks; Downtown Long Beach.
GROUP
2006 United
Care Charity Auction “An Evening Of
Wine And Song” – CSULB Japanese
Gardens.
2002 S.E.E.D. Charity Auction
– Eckstrom Gallery; Laguna Beach.
1996 Unveiled – Dark's Art
Parlour; Sherman Oaks.
1993 Uncooperative Abstraction
– The Project Box in association with
ArtWeek; Los Angeles.
1992 Public Corporation for the Arts
Juried Exhibition – LBCC Art
Gallery. Awarded for "Silent Screams,
1991". Juror: Peter Frank.
1992 Holiday Exhibition –
Portfolio; Long Beach.
1992 Reflections of the Urban Environment
– Studio of David DiMichele; Long Beach.
1991 The Nature Of Importance –
Portfolio; Long Beach.
1991 Opening Exhibition –
Wells Gallery; Riverside.
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Schoenkopf,
Rebecca; Long Beach Rocks, O.C.
Weekly, 3-28-97, p 27.
Gottlieb, Shirle; Monochromatic
Message, Press Telegram,
3-18-97, pages C1/C2.
Buck, Lisa; Melancholic
‘Hindsight’ Shows Surprising Insight, The
Downtown Gazette, 3-17-97.
Yoon, Linda; Dark's Art Parlour,
The Periodical of Dark Art,
Issue 3, p 8.
Jones, Inigo; Caffeinated Art, The
Catalyst Newspaper. March 1994.
Metivier, George; The Missing
Link, The Marina News, 3-3-94, p
9.
Montgomery, Tiffany; Artist
Paints What He Can't Scream, The Signal,
2-2-94, p 2.
Sasway, Mark; Alternative
Perception, The Event, 3-10-94,
p 6.
Scarborough, James;
Uncooperative Abstraction, the ProjectBox
/ ArtWeek, 12/93 |
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Maira
Gallegos; Dr. Jonathan and Erica Brower; Denice
J. Jenkins; Donna Mae Bernhardt; Buck and Janet
Roberson; Mark Sasway; Matthew Lee Rethmeier;
Ryan Taylor Aberg; Kenneth Allen Trainer Jr. Jr.;
Charlene Peterson; Tom Major; Rachel Lillian
Goldman; C. Todd Burton; Marga Kansteiner; Davis
and Andrea Krumins; Rachael Una; Daniel Martin
Mellitz; Erica Brooke Aberg; Duane Osterlind;
Dave Koehne; Andrea M. Sciarrotta; Michael A.
Rose; Sharron Amaris Hefner; Steve Bernhardt; Mr.
and Mrs. Moo Park; Tom and Maria Scheupbach;
Kerstin Kansteiner; Ranell Cutter Racine; Kari
Bernhardt; Susan M. Mills; H. Rosenberg; The
Estate of Dorothea Ann Smith; The Estate of Mr.
Ronald K. Brown; Dr. and Mrs. William Slater;
Michael and Wendy McVicker; MSW; Tarra Thomas;
The Estate of BC Whited II; Terri Quam; Mr. Dan
Gallegos; Mr. Richard Roude; Ceresa Michelle
Aberg; James and Linda Williams; Mr. Norman
Feeney; Kristi Ann Bernhardt; Mr. and Mrs. Herman
Velarde; The WL Smith Revocable Living Trust. |
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