Online Exhibition

New Lithographs by Josh Smith

This presentation debuts four new lithograph editions by Josh Smith, co-published by Utopia Editions and Tamarind Institute, featuring motifs that have been central to the artist’s work: his own name; the ladder, a subject he first engaged with in the 1990s; and the Grim Reaper, which Smith has explored in paintings and, most recently, in sculpture. The release also features an image of balloons, a subject that Smith used to experiment with primary colors in lithography.

Smith spent February 2024 working at Tamarind Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which he calls a “nexus of lithography in America.” Photo by Brad Trone

“I’m really, really lucky to be here. I’ve known about [Tamarind] for years, and it means a lot to me to be here.”

—Josh Smith

During a one-month residency at Tamarind in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Smith created a series of prints including Psychopomp (2024), part of his ongoing series of paintings, prints, and sculptures that depict the figure of death. In these works, the blank, empty faces and shapeless cloaks of the reapers serve as genderless, formless ciphers for the viewer.

In the printmaking studio at Tamarind Institute, Smith reviews the plate used to print the second color in Psychopomp. Photo by Megan Lang

One of the mylars used to create a plate for Psychopomp rests on the racks in the printshop. Photo by Megan Lang

Smith reviews proofs of his prints on the wall at Tamarind. Photo by Megan Lang

 

Josh Smith, Friend, 2023

Josh Smith, Situation, 2019

Installation view, Josh Smith: Life Drawing, The Drawing Center, New York, 2024. Photo by Daniel Terna

This all-red reaper also recalls two cast-bronze reaper sculptures by Smith, Friend and Little Friend (both 2023), which the artist debuted at Frieze London in 2023.

The new print is additionally distinguished by its unique border treatment, which alludes in part to the artist’s interest in early American decorative wall stencils and the serrated and perforated edges of postage stamps, which signify a kind of self-contained meaning or value.

Smith holds up the mylars used to create the plates for Primary Colors. Photo by Brad Trone

Smith reviews a photo plate for Primary Colors. Photo by Brad Trone

“The cool thing about printmaking is a lot of times the process helps form the idea.”

—Josh Smith

Installation view, Josh Smith: The American Dream, The Brant Foundation Art Study Center, Greenwich, Connecticut, 2011

Photo by Megan Lang

Photo by Megan Lang

This lithograph is part of an ongoing series of paintings and prints that depict Smith’s own name. In this group of works, the letters function as formal motifs and compositional structures for exploring gesture, materiality, and form.  In the paintings from this series, Smith’s name tends to appear highly legible. By contrast, in this print, the letters appear more obscured through Smith's thick application of lithographic crayon on the surface of the lithographic stone, blending medium and message in gestural swipes and daubs.

Josh Smith, Moniker, 2024 (detail)

Smith hangs a proof of Spectrum on the wall of the print studio for review with the Tamarind team. Photo by Brad Trone

Printmaking has been central to Smith’s work throughout his career, naturally aligning with the iterative nature of his work. His prints often feature the same motifs that appear in his paintings, extending his exploration of his subjects and compositional formats into new territories using a variety of techniques and processes.

Installation view, Josh Smith: Life Drawing, The Drawing Center, New York, 2024. Photo by Daniel Terna

“In college, I focused on printmaking.... 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, a fish, or a leaf, and have simply focused on how I could change this image technically.”

—Josh Smith

Photo by Megan Lang

Josh Smith paints his name onto a sheet of mylar using a mixture of copy toner powder, water, and dish soap. The image he created was then exposed onto an aluminum photo plate for printing. Photo by Brad Trone

“You’re fighting to keep the image going, so every one involves a lot of painting. I like to make a little war on the two-dimensional surface. You either win it or lose it. You don’t end the war. You go down fighting.”

—Josh Smith

Installation view of new prints by Josh Smith, 2024

Inquire about works by Josh Smith