"For an artist as young as Lucien Smith (b. 1989), it may seem odd to hear him use the word "nostalgia" when speaking about paintings from 2013. He had recently finished his studies at Cooper Union, and his paintings, made by filling an empty fire extinguisher with paint and spraying the canvas, became widely known soon after his 2011 graduation. What appealed to the artist was the way he was able to replicate a natural process—rain—with a manmade tool. For the first rain paintings series "Murmur of the Heart," the artist used blue and yellow paint, but after this initial investigations he began to use a monochromatic approach, perhaps taking a cue from the traditional depiction of rain in Japanese woodblock prints.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ With a feeling of having not quite finished that initial exploration and finding himself with the offer of a Southampton house surrounded by lush gardens in the summer of 2013, Smith returned to the beginning of the series and once again used blue and yellow. Working in the traditional method en plein air, he erected a plastic-sealed "Conestoga wagon" in the garden to contain the spraying. By placing himself in nature, the artist embarked on a refinement of the process that achieved a subtlety and a resolution, and, he sensed, brought closure to the series.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ These 10 works are being shown together for the first time in "Southampton Suite," which also marks Smith's debut solo show in a museum. Visit our website to reserve your timed admission." - Parrish Art Museum
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Photo: Gary Mamay