March 17 – April 21
Reception: Friday, March 217, 6-8pm
Location: Maus Contemporary Gallery, 2411 Second Avenue North, Birmingham, AL 35203
Description: Maus Contemporary is excited to announce the exhibition Leslie Smith III Locus of Control, the artist’s second solo exhibition at the gallery. Locus of Control investigates the degree to which people believe they have control over the outcome of events in their lives, as opposed to exterior forces outside their control. Formally, this project explores unique and individual viewing experiences that challenge how we understand ourselves in relationship to those around us. Referencing the history of Black abstraction the subjects of these inquiries reflect intentions to politicize abstraction in the interest of suggesting perception as a defining factor in our cultural affair with otherness. Smith has produced a series of works where shaped oil paintings redefine the space of the wall with conflicting tangential parings. The pursuit being, to generate works that exhibits the social agency of abstraction while simultaneously contributing to the contemporary discourse within the broader art world.