In Bloom
In my series entitled In Bloom I recontextualize art historical still life tropes of late 17th- and early 18th-century Flemish floral painting within a personal and contemporary aesthetic paradigm in an effort to reinvigorate interest in the role of beauty and fragility in the mundane.
In the late 17th century, when naturalism and scientific enlightenment was emergent, exploration of natural phenomena drew increasing interest among those at the cultural vanguard. Flemish painters at the time deployed still life elements such as flowers, insects, and skulls not only to portray the literal beauty of the natural world, but also to symbolize to the transience of the human condition.
My hope is that an increased interest and appreciation in these art subjects that modernity has deemed superficial may lead to sustained investigations into the metaphorical substrates underpinning the most important epistemic questions that art asks about itself and culture.
ABOUT MARK LIAM SMITH
Mark Liam Smith (b. 1973, Middlesbrough, England) is a Toronto-based oil painter interested in art-historic tropes, myth and narrative. He views his colour-blindness as a strength rather than a weakness by accentuating the use of non-local colours in his work.
Smith’s work has been exhibited in galleries in Montreal, Toronto, London, and New York, and at art fairs such as SCOPE Basel, Seattle Art Fair, Art Toronto, Satellite Art Show NYC, PULSE Art Fair Miami Beach, Papier Contemporary Art Fair in Montreal, and Toronto Edition. He has been granted the Emerging Artist Award by the Federation of Canadian Artists and two Ontario Arts Council grants. His art has been featured in Hi-Fructose, The Jealous Curator, Booooooom, and the Toronto Star, among others.
Opening reception on Thursday, November 21st from 6 pm to 8 pm.
FB: In Bloom / En Fleurs by Mark Liam Smith
