JOEL IZAK SMITH

"I did no wrong" Said The Witness, 2024

Acrylic, Aerosol Enamel, House Paint and Oil Stick on Found PVC Canvas blend Drop Sheet

170cm x 145cm

The Stain You Can't Remove, 2024 

Oil Stick, Acrylic, Aerosol Paint, Found House paint on Canvas

165cm x 142.5cm

Tweedle Do & Tweedle Didn't, 2024

Enamel Aerosol, House paint and Graphite on Found Roller blind (PVC blend)

80cm x 160cm

Tweedy Bird Blues (he/him), 2024

House paint and Oil stick on Found roller blind (PVC Blend)

168cm x 185cm

Praxis Jaw, 2024

Acrylic, house paint, permanent marker and oil stick on Roller blind (PVC blend)

188cm x 139cm

It "Saved" Me, 2024

Screen printed polyester/cotton, acrylic paint on canvas.

16cm x 24cm

Revelations: Logo Kid, 2024

Screen printed polyester/cotton, acrylic paint on canvas.

40cm x 40cm


Growing Pains, 2024

Screen printed polyester/cotton, acrylic paint on canvas. 

36cm x 27.5cm

On One Condition, 2024

Screen printed polyester/cotton, acrylic paint on canvas.

79cm x 59cm

Pure Breed or Mutt, 2024


Found House Paint, Tape and Plastic on Found Canvas Drop Sheet 

170cm x 145cm


IT WAS WRITTEN 2023

Joel Izak Smith has emerged for his first exhibition, by bringing together the tactile
sensibility of domestic materials like house paint and forgotten bed sheets (with all their stories) and washed
over them with a reality that has a foot in each space of the internet and the street debris.
There is a youthful energy in his compositions – like the moment just before the breakdown in the mosh pit
at a punk show. Smith takes this chaos and distils it; combining disparate cultural sources with razor sharp
thought provoking lines and textures that are both universal and personal. It is evident that his worldview has been shaped
by Sub cultures access to high-speed wifi, pinging a multitude of readings to his audience.
What grounds his work is not only the considered flesh tones in his colour palette and opaque ghost like
visage lurking in the background but also the themes of failure, stimulation and the very human questions of
morality. Made in God’s image, yet a mere stained scratched reflection, Smith invites the question of human imperfection vs.
digital algorithmic ideals of society with these pieces.

In this series of 19 paintings Kelly has floated above concrete definitions in both style bringing the highly

mechanical use of the silkscreen technique and brashly expressionistic marks with facetious declarations
and sardonic meditations on the idea of success. Part confessional, part myth making, wholly self aware, the
words serve as stepping stones to critical thinking. The double entendre is placed in the foreground of this
work conceptually underlining the search for truth and it’s often subjective nature. Words as an example of
this hypocritical dualist sensibility the artist offers to his audience.

Stylistically Kelly’s sprayed marks glimpse the etherial of the natural world as well as the manipulated land-
scapes of modern society with the metallic cold and nebulous greens both these points of view evoke. Red

signifying the passion, the danger, the lifeblood as a prerequisite for a gifted life - the all destructive power of
fire reminiscent of the Phoenix. Is society the Dr Frakenstein that creates these “Monsters” only to tear them
down in a mob frenzy? Our own private version of the declaration of independence.

Joel Izak Smith

Untitled (1), 2022

House paint, acrylic, oil stick, spray paint on synthetic linen 115cm x 105cm

Untitled (2), 2022

House paint, acrylic, oil stick, spray paint on synthetic linen 115cm x 105cm

Untitled (3), 2022

House paint, acrylic, oil stick, spray paint on synthetic linen 115cm x 105cm

Untitled (4), 2022

House paint, acrylic, oil stick, spray paint on synthetic linen 116cm x 110cm

Untitled (5), 2022

House paint, acrylic, oil stick, spray paint on synthetic linen 115cm x 105cm

Untitled (6), 2022

House paint, acrylic, oil stick, spray paint on synthetic linen 115cm x 105cm

Untitled (7), 2022

House paint, acrylic, oil stick, spray paint on synthetic linen 115cm x 105cm

Untitled (8), 2022

House paint, acrylic, oil stick, spray paint on synthetic linen 115cm x 105cm

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