Urban Expressionist
Energized and frenetic, the Urban Expressionist
paintings of Stacy Smith's explode with color and
the sheer excitement of a day in the life of New York.
Inspired by the city streets and the vast array of
people and activities abounding here, Stacy Smith
invites the viewer to participate in the starting/stopping,
running/walking, hard-pounding/heartfelt love the he
experiences in the full-out throttle of the cities’ never
ending rush. Style, action and emotions run wild, as do
the lines, shapes and layers of pigment in these canvases
of sheer exuberance. Dancing and moving the figures
push the edges of the canvas, directions their life force
out into the world.
Born in South Carolina, Stacy Smith has become a
master of the delight and visual abundance that keeps us
all in thrall throughout our workday and beyond into the
glittering New York night. Smith documents the youthful
physicality of the urban realm and the simple pleasures of
staying alive. Driven by his Southern roots and the joy of
painting, Smith incorporates iconic forms such as signs
and flowers, and stylized street scenes into his abstracted
portraits that hover between Africa, MTV and outer
space.
Written by Leslie Lund
Stacy Smith © 2011