DIANNE SMITH

CONNECTIONS

Select Art FairThe Catalina Hotel In South BeachArt Basel Weekend December 5, 2012 - December 9, 2012Hours: 11:00am to 8:00pm Daily

The Catalina Hotel & Beach Club1732 Collins Avenue

Miami Beach, FL

COVER ART: Dianne Smith, Afro Syllogism, 2012, Berlin, Germany

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DIANNE SMITH CONNECTIONS

At Select Art Fair, The Catalina Hotel In South BeachArt Basel Weekend December 5, 2012 - December 9, 2012

CONNECTIONS is a site specific installation that explores global themes of Identity, Race, Politics and Transformation New York City (November 25, 2012)--On view from December 5, 2012 through December 9, 2012 at Select Art Fair, The Catalina Hotel & Beach Club, more than 60 of today’s contemporary galleries, collectives, print publishers and artists from around the U.S will convert each guest room into their own exhibition space. Using brown butcher paper, DIANNE SMITH CONNECTIONS will be created on site to fill the unique characteristics and transform the space in Room 224.

Adding to a host of site specific installations by Dianne Smith, CONNECTIONS will tackle notions of identity, race, politics and transformation. Smith constructs elaborate installations using very simple materials. She uses form, scale and placement to reconfigure spaces with butcher paper, a few nails and staples. The paper is crunched, crumpled, twisted, woven, braided, and interlocked. The manipulation of the paper into the space generates lattice type patterns, as well as interesting contrasts of lights and shadows. Smith reflects, “The idea is to always create a space that the viewer is able to interact and engage with.”

Engaging the movement of the paper within these structures often triggers memories. Smith’s installations prod viewers to question their ancestral, historical, cultural, and political pasts, as well as present identities. Accordingly, “visual musing” abounds. Wrinkled paper evokes reflection upon the skin of elder family members—the stories narrated and memories held in their flesh; the paper’s intricate twining conjures speculation of ancestral legacy; the shadows scaling the walls vivify hidden truths.

Smith began working with butcher paper several years ago. The material splendor and intricacy of her installations alludes to processes of transformation. Identity, race, and politics are ever shifting concerns. As an artist-cultural worker Smith’s work engages global and socio-economic issues, particularly those concerning communities of the African Diaspora. Artists are able to take us on unimagined journeys by allowing us to

see beauty, and create meaning; thus liberating our human consciousness. Dianne Smith is no exception.

Along with being an abstract expressionist painter, sculptor, installation artist and cultural worker, Smith is an arts educator. For over six years she has taught in the field of Aesthetic Education at Lincoln Center Institute, and most recently The Center For Arts Education in New York City. Her work as a teaching artist extends to k-12, under graduate and graduate courses in various colleges and universities through out the Tri-State area.

In 2007, she was one of the artists featured in the Boondoggle Film Documentary Colored Frames. The film took a look back at fifty years in African-American Art. It also featured other artists such as Benny Andrews, Ed Clark and Danny Simmons. That year, the historical Abyssinian Baptist Church (which is New York City’s oldest African American church) commissioned Smith to create the artwork commemorating their 2008 Bicentennial. In addition, she co-produced an online radio show the New Palette, for ArtonAir.org (Art International Radio) dedicated to visual artists of color.

Her work is in the private collections of Dr. Maya Angelou and Broadway Choreographer George Faison, as well as Danny Simmons, Rev. and Mrs. Calvin O. Butts, III, Cicely Tyson, Arthur Mitchell and Terry McMillian.

Smith born in 1965, is a Bronx native of Belizean descent. She attended LaGuardia High School of Music and Art, the Otis Parsons School of Design and the Fashion Institute of Technology. In the summer of 2012 Smith received her MFA at Transart Institute in Berlin. She currently lives and works in Harlem, NY.

For additional works by Dianne Smith please click on the link.

Sponsorship:DIANNE SMITH CONNECTIONS is sponsored by Curtiss Jacob of RFA Gallery. Additional support provided by Nicole Valentine of Synergy Business Development.

About SELECT Fair:Developed by New York City based curatorial team and artists, Brian Whiteley and Matthew Eck, SELECT Fair is a permanent contemporary art fair featuring the work of only the best-selected galleries, collectives, print publishers, and artists. SELECT Fair is focused on progressive concepts in art, and the introduction of these concepts to the international art world. SELECT provides a platform for established practitioners and emerging artisans to co-exist in a unique environment. For further information, visit www.select-fair.com

General Information:SELECT Fair will take place at The Catalina Hotel & Beach Club, 1732 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, FL. Daily exhibition hours are from 11:00am to 8:00pm from December 6th to December 9th, 2012. For further information and to register, visit www.select-fair.com and for regular updates on the exhibition and events log on to http://www.facebook.com/SELECTfair

Hours: SELECT Fair VIP Preview: Wednesday, December 5th (7:00 – 10:00pm) Collectors Brunch: Thursday, December 6th (11:00am – 2:00pm) SELECT Fair Reception: Friday, December 7th (6:00 – 10:00pm)

Admissions:Free

For additional information please contact Nicole Valentine Synergy Business Development tel: 917.224.5057 email: info@synergybusinessonline.com www.synergybusinessonline.com

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