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Louis Buhl & Co. is proud to announce Willie Wayne Smith's Small Facet (Hand Painted Multiple Series). Willie Wayne Smith has a diverse painting practice in which he utilizes a range of processes that stem from abstraction, photo-realism, assemblage, pop art, and surrealism. The idea of the unfinished coloring book page also allows conceptual and physical space for other artistic elements - realistic yet hazy airbrush renderings and stream-of-consciousness notes scribbled and bending along the border of the page. These images are intended to expand the meaning of the scene indirectly in a manner that is poetic rather than conclusive, painted from google image searches, iPhone photos, or invented to resemble photo-based painting. The atomized airbrush spray is foggy and speaks clearly to fading memory and temporality, reminding Smith of state fairs, custom car shows, and Americana. All have positive, yet complicated connotations for him. “These images are sometimes taken directly from my own life - my dog or her chew toy, my little sister’s portrait, or a mugshot of my older brother that I found online. It’s interesting to me how an image has its specific/personal and general/political meanings."

"This image was derived from imagination and memories of growing up in central Florida. It is of no one in particular but reminds me of one of our neighbors. She was married to a truck driver and mostly stayed home with her son who had developmental problems. To me, it is a sweet depiction of play and leisure time that is complicated by the implied difficulties and potential dangers of certain social and economic realities. From these realities, there is potential both for positive and negative experiences. I am hopeful that expressions of complex beauty can help us all to better understand ourselves and each other so we can work together to remove the elements that endanger us, and focus on the good." - Willie Wayne Smith

Willie Wayne Smith

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