Open Air with Artist Alexandria Smith

Open Air is a monthly series of virtual studio visits and intimate conversations with Black contemporary artists.

Join us as we get a behind the scenes look at exciting new art as it's being created, while connecting particular works to some of the most pressing issues of our times. Historically, African-American artists have been compelled to make their own way within the art world, challenging traditional ideas of cultural representation and creating their own systems of merit, criticality and reward outside of the mainstream. This unique programs gives Black artist an opportunity to amplify their voices to audiences across the globe.

Note: This free virtual program will be streamed on the Gantt Center's official YouTube channel.

Alexandria Smith is a mixed media visual artist based in London and New York. She earned her BFA in Illustration from Syracuse University; MA in Art Education from New York University; and MFA in Fine Arts from Parsons The New School for Design. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the 2018-2019 Queens Museum/Jerome Foundation Fellowship, a Pollock-Krasner Grant, the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture Fellowship, the Virginia A. Myers Fellowship at the University of Iowa and the Fine Arts Work Center Fellowship. She has been awarded residencies including MacDowell, Bemis, Yaddo and LMCC Process Space. Alexandria is currently Head of Programme, Painting at the Royal College of Art.

Smith's recent exhibitions include her first solo museum exhibit, Monuments to an Effigy at the Queens Museum in NYC; a solo exhibition, In Praise of Shadows at Anna Zorina Gallery in NYC; a site-specific commission for The deCordova Biennial at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum and a site-specific commission for the Davis Museum at Wellesley College. She was also included in a major painting survey exhibition at Mass MoCA entitled The Lure of the Dark: Contemporary Painters Conjure the Night. Alexandria has a forthcoming solo exhibition and site-specific commission at the Currier Museum (Manchester, NH) entitled, Memoirs of a Ghost Girlhood: a Black Girl’s Window in July 2021.