Simon Smith is a painter working in Brooklyn, New York. He received a BA in Studio Art from Bard College in 2016, and an MFA in Studio Art from Hunter College in 2021.

Artist Statement:

I aim for a sense betweenness in my paintings - toeing the lines between surface and image, between pure paint and the suggestion of something from the world, between detachment and earnest engagement, between choices that respond to the formal constraints of the rectangular canvas and those grounded in intuition and emotion. I see this betweenness not as ambiguity or elusiveness for its own sake, but as a specific ineffable quality, not exclusive to painting, but one to which painting is particularly well suited.

This is a well-trodden pursuit. The challenge is not to shy away from that history, but to face it head-on—to engage with it critically while also developing a sense of continuity. I want to make groups of paintings with a sense of continuity, where meaning emerges gradually.