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Lot Essay
Standing out not only as one of the most illustrious newcomers to the art world, but also most recently nominated as a force to follow in 2014 by art moguls such as David Zwirner and Alberto Mugrabi, Lucien Smith relatively young career has gained a vast amount of support since his graduate show at Cooper Union in 2011.
As part of his preeminent cycle of Rain Paintings, which were both conceived and completed in rural Upstate New York, Love Story A Woman Under The Influence, first exhibited at The Still House Group exhibition Homebody in 2011, is a painterly abstraction concerned with Smith's own desire to push for a sense of order within the natural world. Breaking away from city-life, Smith's time upstate in a secluded rural environment near the Hudson offered him a re-connection with the natural world and a greater understanding of the human temperament. The result was this blissfully surprising series of abstractions, painted with an old-fashioned paint-filled fire extinguisher from which drops of monochromatic or multicolored pigment was sprayed onto white canvas. "First, I had to figure out the ratio of water to paint to get the drops consistent," Smith explains. "And then I had to figure out the angle and distance-there were so many factors. I ended up working inside a canopy tent so I could gauge my distance from the canvas" (L. Smith, quoted in C. Bollen, 'The New Abstract: Lucien Smith," Interview, https://www.interviewmagazine.com/the-new-abstract). An optic play of color and pigment, where the artist's hand has been removed and tempered by gravity, Love Story A Woman Under The Influence emerges as a quiet meditation. Idiosyncratic and solemn, Smith's Rain Paintings reflect the pattern of precipitation, both compositionally and through the technique through which they were conceived, not only illustrate the effect of coalescence, but also convey a profound sense of emotional reflection.
As part of his preeminent cycle of Rain Paintings, which were both conceived and completed in rural Upstate New York, Love Story A Woman Under The Influence, first exhibited at The Still House Group exhibition Homebody in 2011, is a painterly abstraction concerned with Smith's own desire to push for a sense of order within the natural world. Breaking away from city-life, Smith's time upstate in a secluded rural environment near the Hudson offered him a re-connection with the natural world and a greater understanding of the human temperament. The result was this blissfully surprising series of abstractions, painted with an old-fashioned paint-filled fire extinguisher from which drops of monochromatic or multicolored pigment was sprayed onto white canvas. "First, I had to figure out the ratio of water to paint to get the drops consistent," Smith explains. "And then I had to figure out the angle and distance-there were so many factors. I ended up working inside a canopy tent so I could gauge my distance from the canvas" (L. Smith, quoted in C. Bollen, 'The New Abstract: Lucien Smith," Interview, https://www.interviewmagazine.com/the-new-abstract). An optic play of color and pigment, where the artist's hand has been removed and tempered by gravity, Love Story A Woman Under The Influence emerges as a quiet meditation. Idiosyncratic and solemn, Smith's Rain Paintings reflect the pattern of precipitation, both compositionally and through the technique through which they were conceived, not only illustrate the effect of coalescence, but also convey a profound sense of emotional reflection.