Frank Smith and I are both Naïve artists, and close friends. We’ve spent many an hour deploring the state of what seems to pass as Contemporary Art these days, and supported each other in our ongoing efforts to establish a National Museum of Naïve art in this country. Other countries have them, so why not us?
We both taught ourselves to paint some 25 years ago, and by sheer co-incidence found we’d both painted pictures of the same subject, almost at the same time, though I was living in Hong Kong, and we’d never heard of each other.
We have our own styles, but our paths are joined, and it’s great to see so many people now beginning to walk with us in the same direction.
Frank’s story is fascinating, with many compelling chapters, and we’ll be bringing you parts of it as the New British Naives develop. He paints; he sculpts; he writes, and he collects memorabilia, which he turns into collages and tableaux, complete with life-sized manikins dressed in period clothes that he makes himself.
Frank’s astonishing output amounts to a unique Naïve autobiographical archive. It’s the ongoing story of one man’s journey through a life of hardship and extreme emotional trauma (though not without its lighter moments).
From his birth in the last workhouse in Kent in 1928, through service in the Middle and Far East, to mind-numbing work on the shop floor at ‘The Austin’ factory in Birmingham, this exhibition gives a valuable insight into Frank Smith the Naïve Artist.
The exhibition contains 64 paintings, a couple of collages, and 7 manikins. Frank will be in attendance throughout the first week, and would be delighted to see you there. Through him you’ll be able to find out more about the work of the New British Naives, and if you have already visited our first exhibition at the Chelsea Harbour Design Centre, you’ll be starting to understand our agenda. (The Chelsea Harbour exhibition runs from 16th August to 25th September)
For more information on Frank Smith CLICK HERE