CASEY JEX SMITH
Echoing the delicate lines of traditional engraving, Casey Jex Smith's intricate pen and ink drawings unravel into phantasmagorical visions, populated by sprites and anthropomorphic flora. The influence of these psychedelic parables are rooted in the artist's devout Mormon upbringing. "At the centre of Mormon belief is an expanded narrative built around the Garden of Eden" Smith explains, "When you attend temple ceremonies, you watch films that go into this narrative in great detail, and they tend to be made using elaborate Hollywood-type sets of the biblical garden as paradise. It's a place I want to be in. Unintentionally it's also a sexually charged place where you and your perfect mate tromp around in the nude, eat fruit, and pet goats." ¹
His illustrational style can also be traced to the more low-brow influences of his adolescence, like the detailed drawings found in the earliest editions of Dungeons and Dragons. The artworks of in-house illustrators like David A Trampier, David C Sutherland III and Erol Otus were fantastically detailed and often bordered on the naive - they left their mark on the young artist. "The drawings were a little bit better than what the teenagers who were playing the game would have made themselves," ² states Smith. Though the mythical universe created by Smith is one of an accomplished draftsman, its true power resides in its visual density and a seemingly limitless imagination.
1, 2. Sharma, Manu. "Casey Jex Smith speaks of his sublime and fluid realms." Stir world, Feb 03, 2021.
Casey Jex Smith
Behold, 2021
pencil on paper
7 1/2 x 7 1/2 in
19.1 x 19.1 cm
Casey Jex Smith
Portals, 2020
pen on paper
10 x 8 in
25.4 x 20.3 cm
Casey Jex Smith
Conch, 2021
pen on paper
9 x 9 in
22.9 x 22.9 cm
Casey Jex Smith
Ancestors in Heaven, 2021
pen on paper
10 x 8 in
25.4 x 20.3 cm
Casey Jex Smith
Peel, 2021
pen on paper
7 1/2 x 7 1/2 in
19.1 x 19.1 cm
Casey Jex Smith
Touching, 2020
pen on paper
7 1/2 x 7 1/2 in
19.1 x 19.1 cm
Casey Jex Smith
Derecognize Face Spell, 2017
pen on paper
7 1/2 x 7 1/2 in
19.1 x 19.1 cm
CASEY JEX SMITH
Born in 1976 in Michigan
Lives and Works in Provo, UT
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Casey Jex Smith received a BFA in Painting from Brigham Young University and an MFA in Painting from the San Francisco Art Institute. He currently resides in Provo, Utah with his wife and fellow artist Amanda Smith and their two children. His art has been exhibited at The Drawing Center (NYC), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (SF), Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UT), and Spring Break (LA). His work has been featured in ArtReview Magazine, The Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, Rhizome.org, Wired.com, ArtMaze Magazine, and New American Paintings.
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EDUCATION
2005 MFA, San Francisco Art Institute
2003 BFA, Brigham Young University
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019 Bountiful, Honey Ramka, Brooklyn, NY
2017 Priestcraft, Salt Lake Film Society through CUAC, SLC, UT
2015 Wars and Rumors of Wars, Writ & Vision, Provo, UT
2012 Fiend in the Void, Allegra LaViola Gallery, NY, NY
2011 Doomslangers, Central Utah Art Center, Ephraim, UT
2010 Doomslangers: A Project by Casey Jex Smith, Allegra Laviola Gallery, NY, NY
2009 Gird Your Elves, and Be Broken in Pieces, LaViolaBank Gallery, NY, NY
2008 Materials Unorganized, Swarm Gallery, Oakland, CA
That Day and That Night and That Day, The Lab, San Francisco, CA
2007 There Is No End to Matter, Swarm Gallery, Oakland, CA
2006 New Work, Central Utah Art Center, Ephraim, UT
TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS2020 Spring Break Art Show with Amanda Smith, curated by Chris Lynn, LA, CA
2013 Glimmerguts, Casey Jex Smith & Ryan Browning, Gallery Protocol, Gainesville, FL
2010 Casey Jex Smith, John Casey, Galerie Polaris, Paris, France
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (SELECTED)
2023 January Selections for Platform in partnership with David Zwirner Gallery & Turley Gallery, virtual exhibit
2022 Furrow, My Pet Ram, NYC
2022 Spring Break Art Show with Brian Uhl & Hailee Va, LA, CA
2021 Scatter Terrain, curated by Ejecta Projects, UNC Chapel Hill, North Carolina
2020 Flat File 2020, Ortega Y Gasset Projects, Brooklyn, NY
2019 Concentrated, Galerie Manque, Brooklyn, NY
2019 GIFC, The Hole, NY, NY
2019 Abstraction is just a word, but I use it, curated by Jared Steffensen, UMOCA, SLC, UT
2019 Exit Next Nexus, M2 Gallery, Sidney, AUS
2018 Menage/rie Unfolded, curated by Andrew Woolbright, SRO Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2018 Casey Jex Smith / Jason Holley / Maxwell McMaster, Nucleus Portland, Portaland, OR
2016 Geo Necro, ADA Gallery, Richmond, VA
2016 New American Paintings: Midwest Edition, Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, IL
2014 Ducks, curated by Ryan Travis Christian, Greenpoint Terminal Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2014 Under the Influence, Phillips Auction House, NY, NY
2013 Utah Biennial: Mondo Utah, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City, Utah
2012 Strange Lands, curated by Christopher Daniels, Cindy Rucker Gallery, NY, NY
2012 Secret Decoder Ring, curated by Adam Bateman, HPGRP Gallery, NY, NY
2010 Weight Perception, curated by Andrew Schoultz, Guerrero Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2009 Take the A Train, Galerie Polaris, Paris, France
Summer Salon, LaViolaBank Gallery, NY, NY
2008 Selections Spring 2008, The Drawing Center, NY, NY
2008 The Brand New Deal, Caren Golden Fine Art, NY, NY
2008 The Exquisite Line, Sherman Gallery, Boston University, Boston, MA
RESIDENCIES2014 University of Illinois, Summer Micro-Residency Program for Art Educators
2007 Headlands Center for the Arts, Affiliate Artist Program, Sausalito, CA
1994 Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation Summer Seminar