Biography
Laurel Smith is a contemporary minimal painter who lives in Calgary, Canada. She received a BFA with distinction from the Alberta College of Art + Design and her MFA from Concordia University in Montreal. She is currently a doctoral candidate in the University of Calgary's Faculty of Education. Her research topic is "red."
Smith's 'Ornaminimalism' paintings combine two diametrically opposed design styles: the austerity of 20C Minimalism with ornamental motifs from 18C Rococo or 19C Qing Dynasty periods. Industrial and handmade techniques are applied to produce multi-layered paintings that are rimmed by ornately scrolled borders. These edges activate the exposed wall as another ornamental element thereby expanding the traditional impact that paintings have upon their surround. Smith's works exist as both presentations of taste and reflections on the excessiveness of consumer culture.
Smith is the recipient of several awards including: Canada Council for the Arts; Alberta Foundation for the Arts; Eastern Canada Winner of the RBC Investments 6th Annual Painting Competition; The Brucebo Foundation; Concordia University Fellowship; Sheila Hugh MacKay Foundation; the Illingworth Kerr Travel Award and the Illingworth Kerr Academic Achievement Award. Her works have been exhibited across North America and in Europe. Selected solo exhibits include CIXI, Ornaminimalism, Paintings by Laurel Smith, LS is more, and Critical Distance. Selected group exhibitions include: soft core Hard Edge (22 artists from LA and Calgary), Inhabiting Spaces (4 Calgary artists touring exhibition to Poland, Portugal, Finland, Canada), Neo-Minimalism, The Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art: Living Utopia and Disaster, About Time: Contemporary Painting in Calgary, and The 6th annual RBC Canadian Painting Competition. Smith's paintings are in public collections including the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Visby Konstmuseum, The Glenbow Museum, Manitoba Hydro Permanent Collection, Calgary Civic Arts Alliance, The Royal Bank of Canada, among other corporate and private collections. Catalogue essays and exhibition reviews have been written about the work. Smith also teaches art and writes articles about the art and research practices of her peers.
