Kim Smith (born 1956, Canada) is best known for his
signature “up close and personal” detailed coloured pencil and graphite
drawings. Smith’s hyperrealistic
drawings depict detailed macro compositions incorporating the interaction of
light and shadow into his art works. His
masterpiece drawings have captured the dancing of light on water, the
smoothness of a slice of conch shell set against the texture of a native rock
wall, the weathered hands of a straw weaver, and the meditative elements of the
mangrove environment.
Smith has lived and worked in The Bahamas since 1991, when
he was employed by the Anglican Central Education Authority in Nassau. In 1999,
he seized the opportunity to teach art full-time with the Catholic Board of
Education and took a position at St. Cecilia's School, where he remained until
2008. In 2001, Smith founded The Place For Art, which offers after school,
evening and weekend art classes. In 2014, he partnered with the top picture
framer in The Bahamas to expand the client offerings to offer custom archival
picture framing.
In 2001, Smith was accepted to exhibit at the Coconut
Grove Arts Festival in Miami and was recognized as the first coloured pencil
artist to exhibit in this top art festival in the U.S.A. In 2007, he held his first solo exhibition
titled “EVOLUTION” where 50% of his coloured pencil drawings were sold within
minutes of the show’s opening. In 2013, Smith held a smaller solo exhibition
of his works at Balduccino's, Nassau titled “Hyperrealism at Balduccino’s". His work was selected for the inaugural
National Exhibition, The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (2003) and again
for National Exhibition 5 (2010). His
drawing “Interaction of Light and Water I”
depicts sunlight dancing on the surface of the turquoise Bahamian seas was
featured in “Partly Cloudy with a Chance Of . . .” at the DAF exhibition in
October 2014.
Smith’s studio and recent works can be viewed at The Place
For Art on Village Road.