User:Etillmanns

Mark T Smith born January 12, 1968) is a celebrated American painter. He is best known for his colorful, complex paintings and his passion for the application of art into the fabric of everyday life.

Life
Born in Wilmington, Delaware, Mark T Smith moved to New York City in 1986 to study at Pratt Institute. After matriculating from Pratt he made New York City his home until June 2004. He now divides his time between Washington, D.C. and Miami, FL.

Smith exploded onto the art scene, getting his first commission, at 22 years of age, from no less than the Walt Disney Company. The project involved the creation of a poster for national distribution announcing the 19th birthday of Walt Disney World, and it introduced Smith’s energetic, active style to the public.

With the huge first commission, Smith’s meteoric rise had begun. Throughout his 20’s Smith made his living in New York City as an iconoclastic artist known for his highly recognizable paintings. Corporate patronage helped Smith become an increasing recognizable figure in the crowded New York City art world, and his patrons included the likes of MTV, Pepsi, Harper Collins, Coors Brewing, Budweiser, VH-1, and many more. The distinctiveness of Smith’s work culminated in the national Absolut Vodka campaign in 1996 entitled “Absolut Smith”.

Smith has had 15 major solo exhibitions and 21 group exhibitions in a half-dozen states and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and his artwork has been displayed everywhere from museums, galleries, the walls of discerning collectors to the collections of celebrities like Jay Leno, Neil Diamond, and Elton John.

Some of Mark T Smith’s more eclectic work includes two life-sized cows from the New York City Cow Parade in 2000; both of which went to private collectors. He also hand-painted a pair of PT Cruisers that were commissioned by Daimler-Chrysler in, driven across the country and exhibited at the Cannes Film Festival as part of a worldwide promotional tour. One vehicle was auctioned for the charity Operation Smile to a private collector and the other is in the Walter P. Chrysler Museum’s permanent collection in Michigan.

Since moving to Miami from New York City in 2004, Smith has participated twice in Art Basel, as well as other solo and group gallery exhibitions.

Work
Mark T Smith’s experience at Pratt Institute reflected the toughness of New York and there he honed his figure drawing skills and learned what it meant to be an artist. New York City and Pratt gave birth to the maturing visual language of Smith. A language that embraces the traditions of draftsmanship, the dedication to craft, observational drawing and the foundation of the master works of art history. At the same time the visual language was mixed with the purely modern influences of graffiti, hip-hop, post pop and the vast sea of advertising, commercial and designed visuals that are part of the everyday experience in New York City.

Mark T Smith’s artwork embraces the classic skills of drawing and painting with the balance of a modern mindset. The artist has a primary interest in the tactile experience of making beautiful expressions in the traditional forms of drawing, painting, printmaking and sculpture. With his unique combination of worldly and otherworldly visual influences, Smith’s artwork grew and evolved into the recognizable style it has today. His art becomes a map of travels and experiences, a visual diary of the artist and his time and place in the continuous development of art.

'''Mark T Smith’s artwork contains:
 * Jungian universal archetypes, the symbols of universal truths
 * The influences of great western masters
 * The savvy of the images of the street'''

Quotes
Art is more than just the hallmarks of Postmodernism—irony-concept, impact, and intellect. Its “beauty” needs to rest on more than just those things…Art must offer something greater then mere criticism to land it somewhere closer to the soul, to the place where true art climbs inside of you and illuminates something within. Art should leave you breathless, amazed, and wondering, perhaps even terrified or furious—art should bring you somewhere miraculous within yourself—somewhere you may not have ever known existed. Mark T Smith

Fill your life with experiences. Fill your life with loves, lost and hard won. Fill your life with your passions. Fill your life with friends and family. Fill your life with confidence of selecting the right path to walk. Fill your life —That is what I have done for most of my life. This is how I make images — I fill the page. Mark T Smith