Stuart Smith

Born in 1975 in Kent, UK
Resides and works in Newcastle, AUS

United Kingdom-born, Newcastle-based artist Stuart Smith was trained as an artist and educator, having graduated with a Master of Fine Art from the National Art School, Sydney, and a Post Graduate Certificate in Education (Art and Design 14-19) from Canterbury Christ Church University, UK. His artistic practice utilises traditional oil painting techniques to address contemporaneous issues of car culture, militarization and warfare. In his recent works, exterior forms, tank-like, have been fragmented, flattened and re-formed, where planes form shadowy architectural structures. Each panel is stained in an autumnal tone, connected by a worn texture recalling the smudges and striations of photocopier toner. Like a low-resolution digital image made real, each oil-painted plane suggests a pixel which has been enlarged and reimagined as part of a new whole. Stuart Smith sources images of vehicle-born improvised explosive devices (IEDs) from the web, paints them, and then re-uses these painted images in new two- and three-dimensional works. Smith’s strategy of repurposing reflects the context of vehicle-borne IEDs, which are used in guerrilla warfare in the Middle East and emerge out of a situation of resourcefulness and responsiveness. Examining weapons of war from a new angle, Smith’s abstract structures prompt audiences to question and decode prevailing political, social and historical narratives.

Stuart Smith has been exhibiting regularly for over fifteen years. Solo exhibitions include Model Society, Bird’s Gallery, Melbourne (2014). Recent group shows include Square, MaySpace, Sydney (2019); Still Life, Gallery Klei, Sydney (2016); Gyeonggi ANSAN International Art Fair, South Korea (2015); Motorclassica, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne (2014); and The Lab, Art Pharmacy, Sydney (2014). Smith has been a finalist in numerous awards including the EMSLA Art Award, Coffs Harbour Regional Art Gallery (2017, 2016, 2013, 2012) and Calleen Art Award, Cowra Regional Gallery (2018, 2017).

Smith has worked as an educator for the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; gallery assistant for Manly Art Gallery & Museum and educator for Grace Cossington Smith Art Gallery where he curated the (Re)arrangements group show.

CV:

Education:

2023-2024: Diploma of Photography and Digital Imaging, Hunter St TAFE, Newcastle AUS

2016-2018: MA in Fine Art (Painting) at National Art School, Sydney AUS

2007-2008: PGCE in Education (Art & Design 14-18) at Canterbury Christ Church University, UK

1995-1998: BA in Fine Art Painting and Printmaking at University of Bretton Hall, Leeds, UK

1994-1995: Diploma in Art and Design - Kent Institute of Art and Design, UK

Selected exhibitions:

2025 In A Few Whiles (solo show), Straitjacket, Newcastle, AUS

2021 Square 2 (group show), Five Walls, Melbourne, AUS

2020 (Re)arrangements (group show), Grace Cossington Smith Gallery, Sydney, AUS

2019 Square (group show), May Space, Sydney, AUS

2019 Replay (group show), Creative Space, Sydney, AUS

2018 MFA Exhibition (group show), National Art School, Sydney, AUS

2018 Calleen Art Award (group show), Cowra Regional Gallery, AUS

2017 EMSLA Art Award (group show), Wollongong Art Gallery, AUS

2017 Calleen Art Award (group show), Cowra Regional Gallery, AUS

2016 Still Life (group show), Gallery Klei, Sydney, AUS

2016 20×20 (group show), Gallery Klei, Sydney, AUS

2016 EMSLA Art Award (group show), Coffs Harbour Art Gallery, AUS

2015 ANSAN International Art Fair (group show), Gyeonggi, SGP

2014 Creative Space Studio Artists (group show), Sydney, AUS

2014 Motorclassica (group show), Melbourne, AUS

2014 The Lab (group show), Art Pharmacy, Sydney, AUS

2014 Model Society (solo show), Bird’s Gallery, Melbourne, AUS

2014 Albany Art Prize (group show), Albany, AUS

2013 Nouvelle (group show), Bird’s Gallery, Melbourne, AUS

2013 One to One (group show), Hong Kong, HKG

2013 Sedate/Stimulate (group show), aMBUSH Gallery, Sydney, AUS

2013 Storytellers (group show), Frances Keevil Gallery, Sydney, AUS

2013 Selected Works (group show), Milk Factory Gallery, Bowral, AUS

2013 EMSLA Art Award (group show), Coffs Harbour Art Gallery, AUS

2012 Art Concerning Environment (group show), Scope Galleries, Warrnambool, AUS

2012 Selected Works (group show), Milk Factory Gallery, Bowral, AUS

2012 Selected Works (group show), Hat Hill Gallery, Blue Mountains, AUS

2012 EMSLA Art Award (group show), Coffs Harbour Art Gallery, AUS

2012 Camberwell Rotary Art Prize (group show), Melbourne, AUS

2011 Selected Works (group show), Milk Factory Gallery, Bowral, AUS

2011 Selected Works (group show), Hat Hill Gallery, Blue Mountains, AUS

2011 National Trust Harper’s Mansion Art Prize (group show), Sydney, AUS

2011 Mosman Art Prize (group show), Sydney, AUS

2006 Selected Works (group show), Royall Fine Art, Tunbridge Wells, UK

2006 Selected Works (group show), Liberty Gallery, Kings Hill, UK

2005 Selected Works (group show), Omell Galleries, London, UK

2005 Selected Works (group show), Royall Fine Art, Tunbridge Wells, UK

2004 Selected Works (group show), Omell Galleries, London, UK

2004 Still Life Still Lives (group show), Rex Irwin Gallery, Sydney, AUS

2004 Selected Works (group show), Royall Fine Art, Tunbridge Wells, UK

1999 Aphrodisia (group show), Rainmaker Gallery, Manchester, UK

1998 BA Graduate Show, Bretton Hall, Leeds, UK