George Smith

One of the seven original founders of Houston’s famous Project Row Houses, artist George Smith is a significant American contemporary artist. He is known for his steel sculpture and oil on paper works which reference the Dogon aesthetic and the expressive power of African geometry, creations that evoke a powerful and spiritual quality, grounded in the very essence of the material itself.

The Dogon, who hail from Mali in West Africa, have for over centuries developed a geometric aesthetic and knowledge of astronomy that, along with their myths, are the unifying elements of their social and spiritual life. This caused Smith’s work to undergo a major change. His sculpture now communicated a profound sense of spirituality whose essence evoke the unity of the tribe and, by extension, the unity of all things. Furthermore, his work is inspired by “Sankofa” a West African word meaning to return to the past and to move forward to the future. His titles, “Nommo,” “Kindred Spirits,” “Dissent from the Spirit,” are centrifugal illusions born out of a yearning for an understanding of the past. When talking about his work, the artist notes:

“This fascinating African society resides in a spectacular rocky region of the Republic of Mali called the Bandiagara Escarpment. On the face of the cliffs, The Dogon create their art and architecture, which consists of carvings and drawings representing mythical ancestors that are part of their elaborate cosmology, including the mythical star, Sirius,” said Smith.

Born in Buffalo, NY, Smith received a B.F.A. in Sculpture from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1969. In 1972, he received an M.A. in Sculpture from Hunter College, New York where the artist worked with sculptor Tony Smith. Additionally, Smith met and studied under curator and arts advocate James Harithas, who at that time was a Professor of Art History. Returning to Buffalo after college, Smith accepted an appointment in the Art Department at the University of Buffalo where he taught sculpture for 9 years. In 1981, Smith moved to Houston and was appointed Professor of Sculpture at Rice University, retiring in 2010. He has been awarded numerous fellowships and grants including a National Endowment Planning Grant (1980); National Endowment Individual Grant (1977); two New York State Council on the Arts Grants (1976, 1973); two Cultural Arts Council of Houston Grants (1975), and a Guggenheim Fellowship (1971).

George Smith’s work is represented in the permanent collections at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; Menil Collection, Houston, TX; Studio Museum in Harlem, NY; Cooper Cameron Corporation, Houston, TX; Burchfield-Penny Museum, Buffalo, NY and Adam Clayton Powell State Building, NY. Among many permanent sculptural commissions are Lubben Plaza for the A.H. Belo Foundation in Dallas, Texas and the Niagara Frontier Transit Authority in Buffalo New York and the Metropolitan Rapid Transportation Authority in Atlanta, Georgia. Furthermore, his work is featured in numerous private collections locally, nationally, and internationally.

Smith lives in Houston with his wife Thelma Smith. He is represented by Nicole Longnecker Gallery, Houston, TX.

Artist CV