If God is in the details, then John Holt Smith’s geometric paintings are truly cosmic.
Working from photographs of landscapes, flowers, or human eyes, the veteran Fort Worth artist achieves minimalist symphonies of simple yet unforgettable shapes and the most eye-popping colors imaginable.
Some of the pieces in Infinite Bloom, his new exhibit, sprang from his interest in spectroscopy, a process in which light is captured from an object in space and analyzed to determine the object’s chemical composition, position, and rate of movement.
Smith’s renderings of galaxies, nebulae, and supernovas inspired by photographs from the Hubble Space Telescope pulsate with sumptuous translucence and intoxicating, almost-neon hues. Though bordering on Op-Art –– the concentric circles are trippy-dippy –– Smith’s work is way more organic-seeming. Paint probably can’t achieve colors this astounding. Nature, though …
Smith makes his other paintings by taking a representational subject and atomizing it to its visual essence. He spins, stretches, and folds the resulting striations into the glorious, luminescent forms hanging on the walls of galleries and museums all over the country. You can see his work in the Crestline Investors Inc. and Gideon Toal buildings in Fort Worth and at Terminal D at DFW International Airport.
[box_info]An opening reception for John Holt Smith’s Infinite Bloom will be 6-8pm Fri at William Campbell Contemporary Art, 4935 Byers Av, FW. Admission is free. Call 817-737-9566. Infinite Bloom runs thru Jan 5, 2013.[/box_info]
