Carried  

 - Orexart (Auckland  2014)

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Exhibition View 

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Words have always occupied a central position in the practice of author, mathematician and painter, Peter James Smith. Few paintings or objects emerge from his studio without words as part of their surfaces. Their purpose is to construct meaning, inviting the viewer to grab the clues and do the constructing. In CARRIED, Smith brings to Auckland a continuation of a show that’s been a success in Melbourne and Hobart, using the notion of collaged trays to do the talking.

An installation of dozens of breakfast trays flows around the walls brandishing clipped phrases like poetry. In a cross-fertilisation of high and low art, book covers are disassembled, record sleeves reconstituted and blackboard paint abounds. Rather than carrying food, the trays now carry collages of the cultural fabric in a show that brings new vigour to Smith’s well known classical painting practice of oil on linen. 

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The installation is comprised of nearly 200 works, most of which are sold individually.

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