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70
Les Prairies's artists
MICHAEL E. SMITH
Trouble stand, 2011. Courtesy of the artist and galery KOW, Berlin. Photography : Alexander Koch.
Detroit born artist Michael E. Smith's work is not what you could call optimistic. It has
a resolutely post-apocalyptic slant, evoking human fragments, urban catastrophes,
unrecognizable detritus and the consequences of dark events. He has a penchant for
unusual industrial materials like plastics, car seats, foam and textiles, and a predilection
for techniques like grilling or melting that might seem more suited to testing products
to the limit rather than artistic creation. But it is exactly this kind of experiment
bordering on psychopathy that defines his activities. Smith carefully places his works
in unconventional places (at the foot of a wall, on the ceiling, or in corners). the albeit
Spartan installation of the works is as important as the works themselves. The overall
dramatic effect is undeniable and belies the economy of means. But all this melancholy
and drama does not affect his incomparable humour. His vision of the world is so grim
and serious that it would be impossible to laugh at it and yet the tragedy and the
apocalyptic anxiety of it all come across as much too harsh and intense for it not to carry
within itself its own, necessary catharsis
C. S. tr. J.H.
Born in 1977 in Detroit (United States) where he lives and works.
Production
Les Ateliers de Rennes 2012.