Library Reading Room, Second Floor, Perelman Building
Main Building
A life on paper
Friendship, love, desire: Keith Smith's life is an open book. For five decades, the Rochester-based artist has used surprising combinations of materials to chronicle his experiences. In this exhibition, explore an array of Smith's mixed-media photographs and prints, and—his specialty—handmade artist's books, most from his own collection.
In his work, Keith Smith irreverently disregards the supposed dividing lines between "fine art" (photography, etching, watercolor), "craft" (sewing, quilting, bookmaking), and "utilitarian technologies" (transparencies, photocopies). Although his subject matter is rooted in his personal life, he also grapples with universal themes such as self-representation, domesticity, and intimacy.
Smith frequently remarks that he is shy in life but not in his pictures. While he is a prolific artist who has enjoyed a successful teaching career and numerous exhibitions, he makes no secret about his reclusiveness. For him, "home" includes not only the physical confines of his house, but also his meditative introspection, his close-knit circle of friends and family, and his perpetual striving toward feeling "at home" in his own skin.
