A detail from an untitled painting by Josh Smith, dated 2020.
A detail from an untitled painting by Josh Smith, dated 2020.

Josh Smith: High As Fuck

High As Fuck presents new work by Josh Smith made during the current COVID-19 pandemic and New York City’s mandatory quarantine.

Staged by the artist on the rooftop of his studio in Brooklyn, High As Fuck is an open-air exhibition that is, by default, only accessible online by a homebound audience. The show features a new series of paintings of empty streetscapes. Depicted is Smith’s neighborhood environs as he has experienced them during early morning and nighttime walks around a locked down city.


The airplane-less, pollution-free clarity of the open sky, the lack of cars, noise, and people, revealed the nuances of absolutely everything. A whole new world of varied and unique local architecture was instantly revealed to the artist. To Smith, everything suddenly appeared clean and fresh.


Image: Josh Smith, Untitled, 2020 (detail)

Location
Offsite: Josh Smith Studio Brooklyn, NY
Dates
May 21—June 21, 2020
Artist
Josh Smith
Press Release
High As Fuck
A photo of Josh Smith carrying a canvas up the stairs in his studio building, dated 2020.
Text card with text reading: Josh Smith: This is a gallery show for a gallery that’s not physically 
accessible because of our collective isolation.
An installation view of the exhibition titled Josh Smith: High As Fuck on the artist's studio roof in Brooklyn, New York, dated 2020.
An installation view of the exhibition titled Josh Smith: High As Fuck on the artist's studio roof in Brooklyn, New York, dated 2020.
An installation view of the exhibition titled Josh Smith: High As Fuck on the artist's studio roof in Brooklyn, New York, dated 2020.
An installation view of the exhibition titled Josh Smith: High As Fuck on the artist's studio roof in Brooklyn, New York, dated 2020.
An installation view of the exhibition titled Josh Smith: High As Fuck on the artist's studio roof in Brooklyn, New York, dated 2020.
A text card with text reading: “Everything looks so fresh and clean. The street plan is open, the angles are all funny, I realized I had total freedom as to what I wanted to render.”
An installation view of the exhibition titled Josh Smith: High As Fuck on the artist's studio roof in Brooklyn, New York, dated 2020.
An installation view of the exhibition titled Josh Smith: High As Fuck on the artist's studio roof in Brooklyn, New York, dated 2020.
A text card with text reading: The paintings, at least for myself, present a contemplative depiction of New York as it currently exists. This time won’t last forever.
A detail from an untitled painting by Josh Smith, dated 2020.
A detail from an untitled painting by Josh Smith, dated 2020.
A detail from an untitled painting by Josh Smith, dated 2020.
A detail from an untitled painting by Josh Smith, dated 2020.
A detail from an untitled painting by Josh Smith, dated 2020.
A detail from an untitled painting by josh smith made in 2020.
An installation view of the exhibition titled Josh Smith: High As Fuck on the artist's studio roof in Brooklyn, New York, dated 2020.
An installation view of the exhibition titled Josh Smith: High As Fuck on the artist's studio roof in Brooklyn, New York, dated 2020.
A text card with text reading: These are memory paintings but the memory I am painting is now.
A composite image featuring an Untitled painting by Josh Smith, dated 2020, and a street scene from Brooklyn, New York, during the COVID lockdown in 2020.
A view of the houses on a street in Brooklyn during COVID lockdown.
A view of the houses on a street in Brooklyn during COVID lockdown.
A view of the houses on a street in Brooklyn during COVID lockdown.
A view of the houses on a street in Brooklyn during COVID lockdown.
An installation view of the exhibition titled Josh Smith: High As Fuck on the artist's studio roof in Brooklyn, New York, dated 2020.
An installation view of the exhibition titled Josh Smith: High As Fuck on the artist's studio roof in Brooklyn, New York, dated 2020.
A view of a ceramic sculpture by Josh Smith, titled Prison, dated c.2013–2014.
A text card with text reading: It seems now is a good time to share the ceramic prisons. These sculptures allude to the sadness in the air.
A photo of Josh Smith holding one of his ceramic prison sculptures.
A text card with text reading: I want New York to feel high right now. I want people to understand that the future is in front of us.

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A4 catalogue version

Get in touch about the exhibition
An image featuring electronic sign ins to the josh smith high as fuck guestbook.
An image featuring electronic sign ins to the josh smith high as fuck guestbook.
An image featuring electronic sign ins to the josh smith high as fuck guestbook.
An image featuring electronic sign ins to the josh smith high as fuck guestbook.
An image featuring electronic sign ins to the josh smith high as fuck guestbook.
Installation view of the exhibition, Josh Smith: High As Fuck, on the roof of the artist's Brooklyn, New York studio, dated 2020.
Installation view of the exhibition, Josh Smith: High As Fuck, on the roof of the artist's Brooklyn, New York studio, dated 2020.
Installation view of the exhibition, Josh Smith: High As Fuck, on the roof of the artist's Brooklyn, New York studio, dated 2020.
Installation view of the exhibition, Josh Smith: High As Fuck, on the roof of the artist's Brooklyn, New York studio, dated 2020.
Installation view of the exhibition, Josh Smith: High As Fuck, on the roof of the artist's Brooklyn, New York studio, dated 2020.
Installation view of the exhibition, Josh Smith: High As Fuck, on the roof of the artist's Brooklyn, New York studio, dated 2020.
Installation view of the exhibition, Josh Smith: High As Fuck, on the roof of the artist's Brooklyn, New York studio, dated 2020.
Installation view of the exhibition, Josh Smith: High As Fuck, on the roof of the artist's Brooklyn, New York studio, dated 2020.
Installation view of the exhibition, Josh Smith: High As Fuck, on the roof of the artist's Brooklyn, New York studio, dated 2020.
Installation view of the exhibition, Josh Smith: High As Fuck, on the roof of the artist's Brooklyn, New York studio, dated 2020.
Installation view of the exhibition, Josh Smith: High As Fuck, on the roof of the artist's Brooklyn, New York studio, dated 2020.
An untitled painting by Josh Smith, dated 2020.

Josh Smith

Untitled, 2020
Oil on linen
60 x 48 inches (152.4 x 121.9 cm)
Signed and dated verso
An untitled painting by Josh Smith, dated 2020.

Josh Smith

Untitled, 2020
Oil on linen

60 x 48 inches (152.4 x 121.9 cm)

Signed and dated verso
An untitled painting by Josh Smith, dated 2020.

Josh Smith

Untitled, 2020
Oil on linen
60 x 48 inches (152.4 x 121.9 cm)
Signed and dated verso
An untitled painting by Josh Smith, dated 2020.

Josh Smith

Untitled, 2020
Oil on linen
60 x 48 inches (152.4 x 121.9 cm)
Signed and dated verso
An untitled painting by Josh Smith, dated 2020.

Josh Smith

Untitled, 2020
Oil on linen
60 x 48 inches (152.4 x 121.9 cm)
Signed and dated verso
An untitled painting by Josh Smith, dated 2020.

Josh Smith

Untitled, 2020
Oil on linen
60 x 48 inches (152.4 x 121.9 cm)
Signed and dated verso
An untitled painting by Josh Smith, dated 2020.

Josh Smith

Untitled, 2020
Oil on linen
60 x 48 inches (152.4 x 121.9 cm)
Signed and dated verso
An untitled painting by Josh Smith, dated 2020.

Josh Smith

Untitled, 2020
Oil on linen
60 x 48 inches (152.4 x 121.9 cm)
Signed and dated verso
An untitled painting by Josh Smith, dated 2020.

Josh Smith

Untitled, 2020
Oil on linen

60 x 48 inches (152.4 x 121.9 cm)


Signed and dated verso
An untitled painting by Josh Smith, dated 2020.

Josh Smith

Untitled, 2020
Oil on linen
60 x 48 inches (152.4 x 121.9 cm)
Signed and dated verso
A sculpture by Josh Smith titled Prison, dated from 2013 to 2014.

Josh Smith

Prison, c. 2013-2014
Ceramic
11 x 11 x 5 inches (27.9 x 27.9 x 12.7 cm)
A sculpture by Josh Smith titled Prison, dated from 2013 to 2014.

Josh Smith

Prison, c. 2013-2014
Ceramic
11 x 8 x 7 inches (27.9 x 20.3 x 17.8 cm)
A sculpture by Josh Smith titled Prison, dated from 2014.

Josh Smith

Prison, 2014
Ceramic
11 x 11 x 5 inches (27.9 x 27.9 x 12.7 cm)
A sculpture by Josh Smith titled Prison, dated from 2013 to 2014.

Josh Smith

Prison, c. 2013-2014
Ceramic
11 x 11 x 5 inches (27.9 x 27.9 x 12.7 cm)
A sculpture by Josh Smith titled Prison, dated from 2013 to 2014.

Josh Smith

Prison, c. 2013-2014
Ceramic

Destroyed

A sculpture by Josh Smith titled Prison, dated 2013.

Josh Smith

Prison, 2013
Ceramic

Destroyed

A sculpture by Josh Smith titled Prison, dated 2013.

Josh Smith

Prison, 2013
Ceramic

Destroyed

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