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Swarm Gallery

September 5 - October 6, 2008

Info

http://swarmgallery.com/
(510) 839-2787

560 Second Street Oakland, CA 94607

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Casey Jex Smith, Untitled (Peter P. Broke a Window) (2008), Collage on paper

Artist Reception | Friday, September 5, 2008, 6-8PM Casey Jex Smith's life thus far has been fully immersed in the Mormon faith and culture. In this church, much like any other, there is a significant visual history. Most of this history is depicted in 2D illustrations that tell stories of the formation of the church, its growth, movement around the Midwest, its exodus to the West and finally, the settlement of Zion in Utah. The images of these stories are used primarily as educational tools in Sunday school. In the last two decades, there has emerged a new Mormon Art market, not much different than Thomas Kinkade paintings with Christian/Mormon themes. It has become what is popular taste in Utah and other Latter Day Saint (LDS) communities and the artistic and aesthetic standard that other art is compared (except for a very small portion of the LDS population). Smith has complained that this "kitsch" is a misrepresentation of a new generation of artistic and aesthetic standards in the Mormon community. In graduate school, he decided to create a new Mormon Art that reflects himself and his peers more accurately. Smith's current work is about creating a visual narrative of spiritual experience. He uses pen and ink, graphite, colored pencil, acrylic and collage, and a mix of strict representation and abstraction. Conceptually, he connects his faith and belief of visions, celestial visitations, and divine dreams with the physical world. He borrows imagery from biblical and Book of Mormon illustrations and from modern and contemporary abstract painting and drawing. Materials Unorganized is a reference to a scripture, Abraham 3:24 that says "...we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell¡¦" This is an excerpt from the Creation Story as written in Mormon scripture.

Casey Jex Smith, Untitled (Nephihah) (2008), Collage on paper

Casey Jex Smith, Untitled (Materials Unorganized) (2008)