Robert Smiths

on

“For over thirty years and at the onset of the 21st Century, Robert Smithson remains one of the most influential and original artists whose voice has had a major impact on artists of his generation, and continues to do so today. His complex ideas took root in many forms: drawings, projects and proposals, sculpture, earthworks, films and critical writings. Smithson's provocative and seminal works, made in the mid-sixties to early seventies, redefined the language of sculpture.”

-The official Site of Robert Smithson

Biography• Born in 1938 in New Jersey

• Went to art school in New York

• Studied drawing and painting

• Many of his early works were influenced by magazines, science fiction and early pop art.

Biography cont.• Smithson became associated with

the minimalist movement, and soon became interested in the connection between land and art.

• Artists such as Sam Durant, Lee Ranaldo, and Mike Nelson were influenced and inspired by Smithson’s work.

• Died July 20th, 1973

Solo Exhibitions

- He has had many solo exhibitions all over the world, Including:- 1966, Dwan Gallery in New York- 1980, Centre d’art contemporain

in Geneva Switzerland- 1996, Galleria Emi Fontana in

Milan Italy.

Group Exhibitions

• Smithson has been apart of numerous group exhibitions including,– 1970, Against Order, Chance and Art,

Institute of Contemporary Art,Philadelphia– 1980, Watermarks, Scottish Arts Council

Touring Exhibition by RobertCallendar & Elizabeth Olgilvie

– 2008, The Sublime is Now, La Galleria Civica di Modena, Modena, Italy (film, Spiral Jetty)

Spiral Jetty• Considered Smithson’s most famous work

of art• Constructed in 1970 • In Salt Lake City, Utah. In the Great Salt

Lake• It is only visible when the water level drops

(or is low) and can be seen from aircraft or even outter space.

• Smithson reportedly chose the Rozel site because of the red color of the water, and it’s connection to the primordial sea.

• The red hue of the water is due to the presence of salt tolerant bacteria and algae.

Spiral Jetty Cont.

• his monumental earthwork was inspired in part when Smithson saw the Great Serpent Mound, a Pre-Columbian Indian monument in southwestern Ohio.

• Since he was one of the “founders” of earthwork, this piece embodied his ideas about earthworks because it was IN the earth rather than on the earth

Spiral Jetty

• spiral jetty

Other Works

“Plunge” sculpture

“Terminal” Sculpture

“Blind in the Valleyof Suicides” Drawing

Funding

• Smithson’s Spiral Jetty preservation is/was funded by Dia Art Foundation.

• Many museums all over the world fund Robert Smithson exhibitions and hold them to very high regard.

• The term earthworks wouldn’t be what it is today without Smithson.

Citations

• The official Robert Smithson website:http://www.robertsmithson.com/index_.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Smithsonhttp://www.diacenter.org/sites/page/59/1384http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral_Jetty