Josh Smith: Emo Viewing Room

A detail from a print by Josh Smith, titled Reaper, dated 2019

Josh Smith: Emo Viewing Room

For the latest Viewing Room, New York–based artist Josh Smith debuts several new groups of monotypes on the occasion of his solo exhibition Emo Jungle, on view through July 19 at David Zwirner in New York.

Smith’s extensive practice, which encompasses printmaking, painting, drawing, and sculpture, is distinguished equally by its intense hues, calligraphic brushstrokes, and unapologetically serial subjects. Sharp, disparate figures like devils, roosters, or fish are suspended idly amid visceral patterns and colorscapes. Grim reapers—personifications of death—hover against vast backdrops, donning black robes with scythes in hand. The artist’s familiar motifs are rendered across both his canvases and his prints.

These unique monotypes, made through a refined printing process that involves pressing a painted plate against paper, constitute another mode through which Smith explores the nuances and possibilities of his imagery. The resulting works are intricate, variegated surfaces in which the pressed layers of paint interact with the material qualities of the various cotton and plastic papers he selects, resulting in diverse effects.

“The impenetrable boundary separating 'originals' from 'reproductions,' which has compromised painting ever since screen-printing was introduced in the sixties, is undermined from within by Smith’s proliferation of originals. This strategy allows the artist to emancipate himself from the hierarchical value system that distinguishes major from minor works.”

—Anne Pontégnie, as quoted in “Painter Without a Pause,” 2009

Image: Josh Smith, Reaper, 2019 (detail)

Inquire about works from this Viewing Room.
A print by Josh Smith, titled Reaper, dated 2019

Josh Smith

Reaper, 2019
Monotype on Plike paper
33 1/4 x 19 3/8 inches (84.5 x 49.2 cm)
A print by Josh Smith, dated 2019

Josh Smith

Untitled, 2019
Monotype on Somerset paper
26 5/8 x 20 inches (67.6 x 50.8 cm)
A print by Josh Smith, titled Turtle, dated 2019.

Josh Smith

Turtle, 2019
Monotype on Somerset paper
36 1/2 x 27 inches (92.7 x 68.6 cm)
A print by Josh Smith titled Reaper dated 2019.

Josh Smith

Reaper, 2019
Monotype on Plike paper
36 5/8 x 27 inches (93 x 68.6 cm)
A detail from a print by Josh Smith, dated 2019
A print by Josh Smith, dated 2019

Josh Smith

Untitled, 2019
Monotype on Ivano paper
24 3/8 x 20 7/8 inches (61.9 x 53 cm)

“I have always been aware of my name and how it sounds. In printmaking classes I started using it to see it reversed. It is embarrassing to see a painting of my name and it humbles me as I work. I have to paint around that feeling and continually compensate for it. The name paintings are like pre-fab buildings. You can build the painting around it. As an abstract painting, it serves as a vehicle and obstacle to prod the paintings forward.”

 

—Josh Smith, as quoted in The Journal, interview with Josh Smith, 2010

A print by Josh Smith, titled Turtle, dated 2019

Josh Smith

Turtle, 2019
Monotype on Plike paper
36 1/2 x 27 inches (92.7 x 68.6 cm)
A print by Josh Smith, titled Devil, dated 2019

Josh Smith

Devil, 2019
Monotype on Plike paper
36 3/4 x 26 3/4 inches (93.3 x 67.9 cm)
A detail from a print by Josh Smith, titled Fish, dated 2019

“I feel as if the monotypes are a type of painting. The process of creating a monotype allows for reaction and reflection as you are creating.” —Josh Smith, as quoted in Mousse Magazine, 2018

A print by Josh Smith, titled Fish, dated 2019

Josh Smith

Fish, 2019
Monotype on Plike paper
36 1/8 x 27 inches (91.8 x 68.6 cm)
A print by Josh Smith, titled Reaper, dated 2019

Josh Smith

Reaper, 2019
Monotype on Plike paper
36 5/8 x 26 7/8 inches (93 x 68.3 cm)
A print by Josh Smith titled Reaper dated 2019.

Josh Smith

Reaper, 2019
Monotype on Whatman paper
26 1/4 x 20 1/2 inches (66.7 x 52.1 cm)
A print by Josh Smith, titled Turtle, dated 2019.

Josh Smith

Turtle, 2019
Monotype on Somerset paper
35 3/4 x 26 7/8 inches (90.8 x 68.3 cm)

“I take these motifs of abstraction like lines, dots, squiggles, and shapes of colors and zig zags and just layer them. The gestures could be anything and I am going to try to do it in the right way.”

 

—Josh Smith, as quoted in Achim Hochdörfer, Josh Smith: Hidden Darts Reader, the publication accompanying his 2008 solo exhibition at the Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien (mumok), Vienna

A print by Josh Smith, titled Turtle, dated 2019

Josh Smith

Turtle, 2019
Monotype on Plike paper
35 7/8 x 27 inches (91.1 x 68.6 cm)
A detail from a print by Josh Smith, dated 2019

“When it comes to my own work I embrace and welcome doubt. I thrive on the risk of failure. I love my work and I know it is the truest thing about me.”​ —Josh Smith, as quoted in Stamatia Dimitrakopoulos, “Dialogue: Josh Smith,” Kennedy, 2014

A print by Josh Smith, dated 2019

Josh Smith

Untitled, 2019
Monotype on Somerset paper
26 5/8 x 20 inches (67.6 x 50.8 cm)
A print by Josh Smith, titled Turtle, dated 2019

Josh Smith

Turtle, 2019
Monotype on Plike paper
36 x 27 inches (91.4 x 68.6 cm)
A print by Josh Smith, titled Rooster, dated 2019

Josh Smith

Rooster, 2019
Monotype on Plike paper
35 3/4 x 25 3/4 inches (90.8 x 65.4 cm)
A print by Josh Smith, titled Reaper, dated 2019

Josh Smith

Reaper, 2019
Monotype on Plike paper
35 1/2 x 26 1/2 inches (90.2 x 67.3 cm)
A detail from a print by Josh Smith, titled Rooster, dated 2019

“Back in school, I would always draw the same thing. For a year, it was ladders. Then I did a face. I have continued to pick stereotypical things, like my name or a beef heart or a fish or a leaf, and have simply focused on how I could change this image technically.” —Josh Smith, as quoted in Artforum, “1000 Words: Josh Smith,” 2009

A print by Josh Smith titled Reaper dated 2019.

Josh Smith

Reaper, 2019
Monotype on Somerset paper
13 x 12 1/2 inches (33 x 31.8 cm) 
A print by Josh Smith, titled Rooster, dated 2019

Josh Smith

Rooster, 2019
Monotype on Plike paper
35 3/4 x 26 inches (90.8 x 66 cm)
A print by Josh Smith, titled Devil, dated 2019

Josh Smith

Devil, 2019
Monotype on Plike paper
36 5/8 x 26 5/8 inches (93 x 67.6 cm)
A print by Josh Smith, titled Turtle, dated 2019

Josh Smith

Turtle, 2019
Monotype on Plike paper
36 1/2 x 27 inches (92.7 x 68.6 cm)

“My whole art is a mistake to me. I’m constantly correcting mistakes. When I see mistakes, and I can’t correct them in that piece, I will correct them in the next piece. I think art for me is a lot about controlling mistakes, understanding what mistakes are going to happen and just learning how to streamline them.” —Josh Smith, as quoted in Achim Hochdörfer, Josh Smith: Hidden Darts Reader, 2008

A print by Josh Smith, titled Reaper, dated 2019

Josh Smith

Reaper, 2019
Monotype on Plike paper
35 3/4 x 25 1/2 inches (90.8 x 64.8 cm)
A print by Josh Smith, titled Turtle, dated 2019.

Josh Smith

Turtle, 2019
Monotype on Plike paper
36 1/2 x 26 7/8 inches (92.7 x 68.3 cm)
A print by Josh Smith, titled Rooster, dated 2019.

Josh Smith

Rooster, 2019
Monotype on Plike paper
35 5/8 x 25 3/4 inches (90.5 x 65.4 cm)
A print by Josh Smith, titled Turtle, dated 2019.

Josh Smith

Turtle, 2019
Monotype on Somerset paper
36 1/8 x 27 inches (91.8 x 68.6 cm)
A print by Josh Smith, titled Reaper, dated 2019

Josh Smith

Reaper, 2019
Monotype on Somerset paper
13 x 12 1/2 inches (33 x 31.8 cm)
A print by Josh Smith, titled Reaper, dated 2019

Josh Smith

Reaper, 2019
Monotype on Plike paper
12 1/4 x 11 1/2 inches (31.1 x 29.2 cm)
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