Carl Berrien Smith |
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Thoughts from the artist 12.12.11 0604 hours. What our senses perceive are electrical signals issued to our brain, and the interpretation is partially based on previous experience, and any residual effects of trauma. My works in progress attempt to compartmentalize the actual signals sent to the brain into visual Cezanne-like geometric shapes. If I see a hare and hunter in a field, and there is some distortion or interference in signal quality as it travels from my eyes, ears and nose, what picture then will be issued by my brain? 8.21.11 1937 hours. What would your soul look like if your mind fractured; multiple personalities emerge and they all loathe you, and your entire life swiftly fedexed to hell? 8.15.11 1558 My current paintings are an effort to visualize how someone may become "un-hinged", and thereby react to their inner and outer (demons)environments (both mental and physical) by any ends and means which then would likely wind up on your local or national news media evening lying news. If each second or moment, life event (birth to death) and all of your cells or DNA in your body are building blocks to a pyramid or roman coliseum or jefferson memorial (albeit a collection of "you", and your very brief "being" in this universe) then you are a slave to your path in the brick laying of your personal coliseum/pyramid (bypassing fate and free will at this juncture). What would happen if a fault occured (childhood head injury, or pre-determined DNA anomaly) which left a pre-disposition to petty crime/felonious or altruistic genius/ (not Lex Luthor) ? What if such a fault(mind/body programming error) claimed a moment in a person's life and triggered a course of action like a pebble in a pond or a pineapple grenade in a daycare center?; i.e., Joseph Sixxpak lost his job and the bank is moving on his mobile home, car was repo'ed, supportive wife is waining, employment search is echo of doors slamming, and Joseph tells his wife on Monday morning that he is going "hunting for people". She dismisses him, and Joseph meets the morning breakfast rush at the local Wackoburger fast food restaurant with his .45, 9mm, sawed off 12 gauge and trusty SKS w/three 30 round clips all under his long coat on a beautiful day. Long after the police leave, and crime scene tape is gone, a full autopsy is run on Joseph to discover a growth pressing against the amygdala in his brain. An extra brick in the wall for this pyramid, or the correct number and placement? About the artistCarl Berrien Smith was born in Darien Connecticut, and he always wanted to be an artist. He made drawings and paintings since kindergarten, and all through High School. His style was always one of self-expression and figurative narration. He studied painting at the Swain School of Design in New Bedford, MA, under Professor David Smith. There at art school, Carl blossomed as a narrative expressionist painter much like the German Expressionists of the 1930's. Carl's paintings were bold in color, and were shocking narratives of human behaviors, societal and moral decay. His primary tool for narrating his visions was by painting a figure he calls Hugo, an alter ego he began drawing in the sixth grade. Hugo in Carl’s mind is a big man with a temper and penchant for wild women and booze. After graduating from art school, Carl painted constantly, exhibiting numerously in Fairfield County. Then in 1994 he enlisted in the Marine Corps to be a combat artist. In 1995 he had his first solo exhibition in New York City. From there he has shown his art in galleries from New York to Barcelona, Spain. His work is in numerous private collections and on permanant display at the Reflex Contemporary Museum, Amsterdam. Carl exhibits also with the Vicious Circle in Greenwich, CT. |
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"No Quarter for Three Graces" 2009 | ||||