Sally Smith
Sally Smith, 'Morning Moon', 2024, Oil on Yupo paper, 35 x 28cm
Smith creates oil paintings of landscapes and interiors, often with figures, that are charged with an underlying tension or irony. The murky underbelly might simply be the portent in the shadows, or a more literal tension. For example, Smith’s bucolic fire trail series creates battle scenes between native and invasive plants. Similarly, Smith’s travel paintings, often based on vintage photographs, honor the magic of a single moment yet rue the passage of time and distance. Train stations and places of travel often appear in her paintings. These images juxtapose the romance of travel with the melancholy of separation. Like her subject matter, Smith’s paint handling bridges calm and turbulence. She paints wet into wet and often mixes colors on the canvas to blur the boundaries between objects and place. By using different sized brushes and working with multiple layers, Smith is able to display the kinetic quality of her painting. Her intent is to create a feeling of interconnectedness and ambiguity so that we can experience the world a little differently.
Education
2002-2003 City College San Francisco, printmaking
1999-2001 Cambridge Center Studio School, painting and drawing
1994 Juris Doctor University of Utah 1989 BA in Music and Biology Stanford University
Solo Exhibitions
2024 Turning to Salt, Forest Gallery, Berkeley, CA / 2023 As an Arrow, Carl Hansen & Søn, San Francisco, CA / 2022 Entanglement, Forest Gallery, Berkeley, CA / 2021 Memory Imagined, Moss Gallery, Berkeley, CA / 2019 Burn Rate, Gallery 60SIX, San Francisco, CA / 2018 American Institute of Architects Gallery Exhibition, Berkeley, CA / 2017 Calorie Project, Gallery 60SIX, San Francisco, CA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 MarinMOCA Inaugural Northern California Open, Marin, CA. Juried by Lawrence Rinder, Mari Robles, Mariah Nielson, Donna Seager, Facundo Argañaraz / 2024 Metamorphosis, Mercury 20, Oakland, CA. Juried by Elena Gross / 2024 Joy, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA. Juried by Karen Gutfreund and Priscilla Otani / 2024 Left Coast Annual Juried Exhibition, Sanchez Art Center, CA. Juried by Janna Keegan / 2024 Series and Repetition, Site Brooklyn Gallery. Online exhibition juried by Yulia Topchiy / 2024 Blue, O’Hanlon Gallery, Mill Valley, CA. Juried by Sarah Shepard 2023 Black & White, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA. Juried by James Bacchi / 2023 Cultural Currency: Contemporary Art from the Riemer Collection, Woodson Art Museum, Wasau, WI / 2023 Art & Ecology, O’Hanlon Gallery, Mill Valley, CA. Juried by Obi Kaufmann / 2023 bit by bit, Gallery 60SIX, San Francisco, CA / 2023 A New Perspective, O’Hanlon Gallery, Mill Valley, CA. Juried by Orin Carpenter / 2022 Midnight Garden, Gallery 60SIX, San Francisco, CA / 2022 Face to Face, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA. Juried by TaVee Lee / 2022 Twenty Twenty, Pence Gallery, Davis, CA. Curated by Natalie Nelson / 2021 Left Coast Annual Juried Exhibition, Sanchez Art Center, CA. Juried by Christine Koppes / 2021 Annual Juried Exhibition, Piedmont Center for the Arts, Piedmont, CA. Juried by René de Guzman and Danielle Fox / 2021 Hierarchy, GearBox Gallery, Oakland, CA. Juried by Elena Gross / 2021 Women Artists Making Their Mark, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley, CA, Juried by Donna Seager and Suzanne Grey / 2021 Imaginary Travel, Artist Alliance Exhibition. Juried by John Yoyogi Fortes / 2020 Justice, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, CA. Juried by Karen Jenkins-Johnson / 2020 Fragments, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA. Juried by Jen Tough / 2019 Content Matters, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, CA. Juried by Jack Fischer / 2019 All That Glitters, Berkeley Art Center, CA. Juried by Walter Maciel / 2018 Y STUDIO, Gallery 60SIX, San Francisco, CA / 2017 Fine Lines and Other Fictions, Berkeley Art Center, CA. Juried by Renny Pritikin / 2016 Microcosmos, Gallery 621, Benicia, CA. Juried by Chester Arnold / 2015 National Juried Drawing Exhibition, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, CA. Juried by Jack Fischer