As part of their art in public places series, Bomb Magazine, a publication covering literature, theater, music, architecture, and art, interviewed Ned Smyth for their new online magazine bombsite.com. They chose international artist Keith Sonnier—known for his work with neon—to interview Ned in his studio. Touching on his entrance to New York in 1971 and the SOHO scene in the ‘70s, the two artists describe the development and tension between the artists’ public and studio art, the move to public commissions, and the return to gallery-size work. Please join us as Ned leads us through an exploration of the new territory from an early 21st century perspective.
PRODUCER: Ned Smyth
Bomb magazine online says, “Though Ned Smyth is best known for his public art projects, his studio work has been highly acclaimed since he began showing in the 1970s. He continues to produce both public and studio work today. His forthcoming public project, The Next Generation, will be installed at Lehman College in the Bronx. His recent show at Salomon Contemporary featured primal, found objects—such as stones, twigs and cast concrete—composed for private spaces.”
Ned first started showing in galleries in NYC in 1973. In 1975 he joined the Holly Solomon Gallery, which became an internationally successful gallery in but a year’s time. Ned has shown internationally in London, Paris, Berlin, Cologne, Venice, Zurich, Copenhagen, Brussels, Oxford, Philadelphia, Washington DC. LA, Miami, etc., and he has also shown at museums all over the world, including The Museum of Modern Art NYC, The Hirschorn Museum Washington DC, The Venice Biennale, twice. Since 1976, he has built over thirty-six large-scale public projects across the country, in cities as diverse as NYC, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Forte Lauderdale, Anchorage Alaska, and St. Thomas Virgin Islands.
Ned stopped making small-scale work and showing in galleries in 1985. He became focused primarily on large-scale commissions. In 2003, after building a studio on Shelter Island, he began thinking about smaller objects again. Ned has been showing this new work since 2006, and presently has two shows up in NYC.