Lenard Smith (b. 1975) is a first-generation Ghanaian-American interdisciplinary artist and educator who lives and works in Los Angeles. Smith combines his academic research interests, both the African diaspora and architecture, with assemblage sculpture, photography, painting, field recording, and film/video. He has exhibited his work throughout the United States and abroad; published eight artist books, including Refuge (Perimeter Editions, 2024), Melancholy Objects (Perimeter Editions, 2022), A Change of Scenery (Pau Wau Publications, 2013); and contributed photography to The New York Times, The Atlantic, and G2 | The Guardian.
His work is included in the permanent collections of The Wallis Annenberg Photography Department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), The Whitney and Lee Kaplan African American Visual Culture Collection at the Getty Research Institute, and Light Work (Syracuse, NY), among others. Smith is a 2024 MacDowell Fellow. He received an MFA in Advanced Photographic Studies from Bard College, which grounds his work in traditional practices and experimental methodologies. Smith is currently a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Art at the University of California, Riverside.
Education
2006-2008 MFA in Advanced Photographic Studies
Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
Permanent Collections
Wallis Annenberg Department of Photography, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
The James Baldwin Library at MacDowell, Peterborough, N.H.
Museum of Modern Art Library (MoMA QNS), Queens, NY
Tate Britain Library Special Collections, Martin Parr Collection, London U.K.
Balch Art Research Library and Archives (LACMA), Los Angeles
The Whitney and Lee Kaplan African American Visual Culture Collection
Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, CA
Hunt Library, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
The New York Public Library (NYPL)
State Library Victoria (Rare Books), Melbourne, Australia
The Institute of Fine Arts, Library New York University
Light Work Collection, Syracuse, NY
Residencies / Awards
2024 Pollock-Krasner Award, Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New York, NY
2024 MacDowell Fellowship, Peterborough, N.H.
2023 Black Artist Retreat (B.A.R.), Chicago, IL Hosted by Theaster Gates
2022 Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Omaha, NE
2021 Crafting the Future, Los Angeles, CA
2020 Salmon Creek Farm, Albion, CA
2020 Unpublished Studio Residency, Los Angeles, CA
2010 Light Work Artists-in-Residence, New York, NY
Selected Exhibitions
2024 Signal Fires, Curated by Lia Trinka-Browner, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2023 A Project Curated by Artists: 15 Years of ACP, Moran Moran, Los Angeles, CA
2023 Chanterelle, Ashes/Ashes, New York, NY
2023 Solo Exhibition | Lenard Smith: Spatial Studies, As-Is Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2023 Crafting the Future, The Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art
2023 Dandelion Wine, Central Server Works, Los Angeles, CA
2022 Even in It’s Stillness, Curated by Eve Fowler, Artist Curated Projects, Los Angeles, CA
2022 Dreams, Curated by Eve Fowler, Artist Curated Projects, Los Angeles, CA
2022 There is No Outside, Curated by Kristopher Raos, Charles James Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2022 New Photography III, Academy Art Museum, Easton, MD
2021 Reimagine Public Art, Department of Cultural Affairs City of Los Angeles, CA
Teaching / Lectures
2025 Visiting Assistant Professor, UC Riverside, Department of Art
2024 Visiting Assistant Professor, UC Riverside, Department of Art
2023 Guest Lecturer, UCLA Department of Art (Photography Area)
2023 Guest Lecturer, Loyola Marymount College of Communication and Fine Arts (Photography)
Inquiries: studio@lenardsmith.work
Studio: Los Angeles, CA
All artworks appearing on the Lenard Smith Studio website are copyrighted and protected under United States and international copyright laws. The works on this website may not be reproduced in any form, stored, or manipulated without prior written permission from Lenard Smith Studio.
Copyright © 2024 Lenard Smith
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