Art
Smith's body of work primarily comprises portraits, drawings, and abstract art executed in acrylic and ink. An enduring interest in comic books informs the artist's dynamic and obsessively detailed depictions of the people, objects, and stories that inhabit his world. Allied with punk and hardcore culture and the DIY aesthetic associated with these movements, Smith draws on traditions of decorative art to produce visually complex, labor-intensive pictures characterized by intricate patterns and vivid coloration. These include repeated shapes (such as squares and lines) that are compressed to form 3D hints that form the picture. Zak also contrasts colours in his work, often using black and white with clear differentation within the scene.
Smith is best known for his portraits of female subjects - with an emphasis on eroticism as well as the mundane aspects of his subjects' lives - and his page-by-page illustrations for Gravity's Rainbow. The latter were featured in the 2004 Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art and are now in the collection of the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.
Recently, Smith has begun donating sizeable portions of the profits from the sale of his work to activist causes such as Food Not Bombs and the West Memphis 3.
Other public collections containing Smith's work include the Museum of Modern Art and the Progressive Corporation. Zak Smith is represented by Fredericks & Freiser Gallery in New York City.
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