ARTIST’S STATEMENT “I have been drawing and painting the human form for close to fifty years now and I continue to derive an enormous amount of pleasure from it. Whether a classical drawing of the nude in sanguine chalk or a more whimsical drawing of a group of figures in compressed charcoal or an abstracted painting of the figure, the thrill of the human form and the challenge of recording and interpreting that form and its gestures and surfaces keeps bringing me back daily. I am an artist because the human form inspires.“
BIOGRAPHY Brian Smith was accepted into the Ontario College of Art with advanced standings and full scholarship. After graduating in 1969, he worked as a graphic designer, including founding his own brand development company, LOGOSBRANDS, in 1979. Over the next 27 years, he and his design team won over 90 national and international design awards. Throughout this time, Brian has also been a practicing fine artist, specializing in classical drawing and painting from the figure. His works range through a variety of media and styles, and are represented in collections across Canada and the US. Brian has been on the faculty of Ontario College of Design, Haliburton School of the Arts, Humber College of Applied Arts, Durham College of Applied Arts, Koffler Centre for the Arts, Neilson Park Creative Centre, and Visual Arts Mississauga.
EXHIBITIONS
Annual Salon Show, Invitational Group Show, Propeller Gallery, Toronto, ON 2010-2012
3 Artist Exhibition, RedLine Café Gallery, Toronto, ON November 2011
Annual Faculty Show, Rails End Gallery, Haliburton, ON 2001-present
Shared Spaces, Ethel Curry Gallery, Haliburton, ON July 2011
Diversity in Art, Artworld of Sherway, Toronto, ON March 2011
Urban Life, Latitude 44 Gallery, Toronto ON, October 2010
Inside Out, Faculty Exhibition, Neilson Park Creative Centre, Toronto, ON 2010
Roadside Attractions, Solo Exhibition, Bending Spoons Gallery, Toronto, ON 2009
Go Figure, Invitational Group Show, Propeller Gallery, Toronto, ON 2009
3+3, Group Exhibition, Williams Mill Gallery, Glen Williams, ON 2009
Peel Juried Exhibition, Art Gallery of Peel, Brampton, ON 2009
The Canadian Portrait, Today and Tomorrow Juried Exhibition, John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto, ON 2009
Form Follows Figure, Solo Exhibition Gallery Streetsville, Streetsville, ON 2009
Patterned Feat, Solo Exhibition, Bending Spoons Gallery, Toronto, ON 2008
Surfaces, OSA Open Juried Exhibition, John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto, ON 2008
John B. Aird Gallery 9th Annual Drawing Show, Toronto, ON 2008
Colour & Form Society Juried Exhibition - Winner “Best in Show” 2007
Sight Specific, Two Artist Exhibition, Neilson Park Gallery, Toronto, ON 2007
One Foot Square, Annual Exhibition and Sale, AWOL Gallery, Toronto, ON 2005, 2006
So Much in Common, Three Artist Exhibition, Contour Gallery, Toronto, ON 2005
Wednesday Works, Annual Group Show, Neilson Park Gallery, Toronto, ON 2003-2007
Still Figuring It Out, Three Artist Exhibition, Neilson Park Gallery, Toronto, ON 2003
Whodunnit, Exhibition and Sale, OCAD, Toronto, ON 2003-2007
Figuratively Speaking, Three Artist Exhibition, Neilson Park Gallery, Toronto, ON 2001
Etobicoke Art Group Juried Exhibition, Neilson Park Gallery, Toronto, ON 1996-2007 Winner “Award of Excellence” 2004
Purple Hills Studio Tour, Creemore, ON 1995-2000
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Juror Pastel Artists of Canada Annual Juried Exhibition 2010
Juror A Brush with the Highlands Plein Air Festival 2010
Juror ArtWorks Oakville's 9th Annual Juried Show 2008
Juror Beaux Arts Brampton Annual Juried Exhibition 2008
Juror Muskoka Arts and Crafts Exhibition 2006, 2010
Juror Prince Edward County Juried Art Exhibition 2005
Elected Honorary Drawing Master, Canadian Drawing Society 2005
Faculty Visual Arts Mississauga, Mississauga, ON 2007-present
Faculty Haliburton School of The Arts, Haliburton, ON 2001-present
Faculty Ontario College of Art & Design, Toronto, ON 2001-2007
Faculty StudioQ, Toronto, ON 2006-present
Faculty Koffler Centre for the Arts, Toronto, ON 2005-2009
Faculty Neilson Park Creative Centre, Toronto, ON 2003-present
Guest Lecturer on the State of the Artist Haliburton School of The Arts 2002-2010
Convocation Speaker, Haliburton School of the Arts, 2011
