Mark Elliott Smith
Mark Elliott Smith is interested in creating work which brings something new to abstraction, which holds an abstract complexity, yet each painting binds and expresses an individual identity which can communicate directly with the veiwer with a personal resonance.
In his work he explores the realms of suggestive, enigmatic apparitions, seeing thoughts and ideas as patterns which interact to define the optimum image in new shapes and configurations.
His large abstract canvases are worked in pure colours with hard edged, often cartoolike forms with playful and energetic elements. Paint is laid on flat with a brush to a smooth crisp finish, while a dynamic illusion of three dimensions is created through the placement of form and colour.
Through altering and dramatising the scale of his preparatory, often very small drawings, and representing chance actions in a controlled and deliberate way, the process of painting reveals and amplifies previously hidden information, both visual and psycological, and hints at some kind of narrative beyond the veiwer's conscious grasp.
What is sought, in this interaction between the abstract and the surreal, is a combination of spontaneity and control: a chaotic precision that extracts and re-presents the lost and found on an epic scale. Likewise, the titles of his paintings, though they parallel rather than describe the work, are precise and are chosen to function as micro-poems analogous to the images as they emerge and are defined.
Qualifications and training
- 2006 - BA (Hons) Fine Art, University Plymouth
Solo exhibitions
- 2022 - Solo show / Adam Gallery, Bath
- 2017 - Trowbridge Town Hall, by invitation of Trowbridge Arts in association with Trowbridge Museum
- 2014 - Solo show by invitation of The Atkinson Gallery, Millfield School, Street
- 2012 - Out Of This World, Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, Bath
Joint Shows
- 2022 Dream Jams Fuel, Centrespace, Bristol
- 2021 Reap Bliss Speeds, Black Chalk Workshops, Bath
- 2015 - The Island, Bristol (In collaboration with View Gallery) Mark Elliott Smith, Thomas Dowdeswell, Christopher Dear
- 2014 - Adam Gallery, London, Mark Elliott Smith and Douglas Jeal
- 2014 - Adam Gallery, Bath, Mark Elliott Smith and Douglas Jeal
Group exhibitions
- 2023 Hansard Studio Gallery, London
- 2023 Cacophony, View Gallery, Bristol
- 2018 The Bath Open Art Prize, 44AD, Bath
- 2017 Different Perspectives, Store Street Gallery, London
- 2016 The Art Gemini Prize, Asia House, London
- 2014 State Of Flux, Create Centre, Bristol
- 2013 The Atkinson Gallery Summer Show, Millfield School, Street
- 2012 Transience, Walcot Chapel, Fringe Arts Bath
- 2010 Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, Fringe Arts Bath
- 2010 Metamorphosis, BRSLI, Bath
- 2008 Muse, Edgar Modern, Bath
Residencies and commissions
- 2019 - August, commissioned mural at 15 Great Pulteney Street, Bath
- 2016 - August, commissioned mural at 15 Great Pulteney Street, Bath
- 2014 - November - December, residency at The Atkinson Gallery including a specially commissioned painting for the gallery collection and a workshop and information sessions with the art scholars.
Art Fairs
- 2020 The London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, Islington, London
- 2019 The London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, Islington, London
- 2018 The London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, Islington, London
- 2017 The London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, Islington, London
- 2015 The London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, Islington, London
- 2014 The Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, London
- 2014 The London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, Islington, London
- 2013 The London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, Islington, London
Artist talks
- 2023 Conversation on the fine art of collage with artist Marq Keary, Hansard Studio Gallery, London
- 2015 Forest of the imagination 5x5x5 event, BRSLI, Bath. "everyone is an artist": Member of Panel
- 2014 Presentation to 50 art scholars at Millfield School, Somerset, covering my artistic influences and studio practice
- 2010 - relationship between childhood creativity and the adult artist, 5x5x5 Red Day conference, BRLSI, Bath
Competitions, prizes and awards
- 2018 - Shortlisted for The Bath Open Art Prize, 44AD, Bath
- 2018 - Shortlisted for The Town Hall Open Exhibition, Trowbridge
- 2016 - The Art Gemini Prize, Asia House, London
- 2013 - Atkinson Gallery Summer Show, Millfield School, Street, Somerset
Work featured on
- 2014 Evolver Magazine, issue 81
- 2014 Evolver Magazine, issue 84
