L E S L I E · S M I T H · III
  • H o m e
  • A b o u t
  • P a i n t i n g s
    • C u r r e n t
    • 2 0 1 8 - 2 0 2 0
  • P a p e r
    • In Silence
    • Consumption
    • QuIbble
    • Shape Sorter
  • P u b l i c a t I o n s
  • C V
  • C o n t a c t
EDUCATION
Yale University School of Art, New Haven, CT | 2009
M.F.A., Painting and Printmaking

Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD | 2007
B.F.A., Painting Major, Art History Minor


SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022
The Depth of Thoughts | Galerie Isabelle Gounod, Paris, France
Stranger Days | Maus Contemporary Gallery, Birmingham, AL


2020
Strangers: New Abstractions by Leslie Smith III | Galerie Isabelle Gounod, Paris, France
We Still Play With Blocks: Paintings From 2014 -17 | Hawthorne Contemporary, Milwaukee, WI 


2017
Redaction | 'sindikit | project, Baltimore, MD 
Locus of Control | Maus Contemporary Gallery, Birmingham, AL 

2016
Time Further Out | Ponce Robles Gallery, Madrid, Spain
 
2015
Vivir en la tierra plana (Living In The Flat Land) | Galleria Ponce+Robles, Madrid, Spain
Volta 11 International Art Fair, Basel, Switzerland

2014
Vacation | DeLuce Gallery Northwest Missouri State University Olive, Maryville, MO
As I Remembered | Beta Pictoris Gallery / Maus Contemporary Birmingham, AL 
Opposing Dysfunction | Wriston Art Galleries. Lawrence University, Appleton, WI 
 
2013
I Dream Too Much | Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, WI
 
2012
Leslie Smith III: Representation, Abstraction, Oscillation | Dean Jensen Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
 

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2022
OFFSIGHT |James Fuentes Gallery, New York, NY
Anyone Can Move a Mountain | Maus Contemporary, Birmingham, AL
7-5 Exhibition | Grand Marais Art Colony, Grand Marais, MN
Positions Berlin Art Fair | w/Maus Contemporary Gallery, Berlin, Germany

2021
Darker Than Blue | Maus Contemporary, Birmingham, AL


2020
Night in America | Maus Contemporary, Birmingham, AL


2019
Expo Chicago's EXPOSURE | Curated by Naima Keith | Chicago, IL
tel un geste captivant la lumière | Galerie Isabelle Gounod, Paris, France
Aftereffect: Georgia O'Keeffe and Contemporary Painting  | Curated by Elissa Auther in consultation with Emily Joyce | Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Denver, CO
Paper Selections 
| Galerie Heike Strelow, Frankfurt, Germany
DRAWING NOW Paris
 | Galerie Isabelle Gounod, Paris, France

2018
Change Agent | Patrick Mikhail Gallery, Montreal, Canada 
FOCUS III: I’ll see it When I believe it,Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts Museum, Birmingham, AL

2017
Pulse Contemporary Art Fair Miami Beach | Maus Contemporary Gallery, Miami, FL
Minimal Gestures | Galerie Heike Strelow, Frankfurt, Germany
​Paper Positions Munich | Maus Contemporary Gallery, Munich, Germany 
Echo Spectrum | Trestle Contemporary Art Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
DRAWING NOW Paris
 | Travis Somerville, Suso Fandiño, Catherine Tafur, Leslie Smith III, Yoshishige Furukawa Maus Contemporary Gallery, Paris, France
 
2016
Black Paintings | Heike Strelow, Frankfurt, Germany
Volta NY International Art Fair | Beta Pictoris Gallery, New York, NY
ARCO Madrid International Contemporary Art Fair | Ponce Robles Gallery, Madrid, Spain
Losing my Edge: New Perspectives in Abstract Figurative Painting | Bloch Hall Gallery, University of Montevallo, Birmingham, AL
 
2014
Volta 10 Art Fair, Basel, Switzerland
Pulse New York Contemporary Art Fair, New York, NY
Monochromatic | Triumph & Disaster, Montgomery, AL 
Parallax Futured: Transtemporal Subjectivities | Skirball Museum, Cincinnati, OH
Black In The Abstract, Part II: Hard Edges/Soft Curves, 65th Anniversary, with curatorial contributions by Valerie Cassel Oliver, Bill Arning, and Dean Daderko | Contemporary Art Museum Huston, Houston, TX
2013
Big Bangs/Small Bucks Redux | Dean Jensen Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
Beta Pictoris Gallery at Texas Contemporary Art Fair | Houston, TX
Wisconsin 30 | Milwaukee Museum of Art, Milwaukee, WI
Pulp3 ...works on paper | Beta Pictoris Gallery / Maus Contemporary, Birmingham, AL
ARTPADSF | Art fair at the Phoenix Hotel in San Francisco, CA
 
2012
25 for 25 | Dean Jensen Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
Voices of Home | Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Voices of Home | Jenkins Johnson Gallery, New York, NY
 
2011
Intersecting Cultures/Virtual Worlds | Underground Gallery at the Betsy, Miama, FL
Two Men 2011: Tim Roseborough & Leslie Smith, III  | Strivers Gardens Gallery, New York, NY
 
2010
Balls | Obsidian Arts, Minneapolis, MN
In/Ex | Gallery M, New York, NY
Joel Dean, Fabienne Lasserre, Leslie Smith III | Jolie Laide Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
 
2009
Emerge CT:  2009 MFA Graduates from UConn, Western Connecticut State and Yale, Stamford, CT
Yale University School of Art M.F.A. Thesis Show, New Haven, CT
 
2008
Verge | Galapagos Art Space, New York, NY 
 
2007
Visions of Conflict: Rendering Dissent | Gormley gallery College of Notre Dame, Baltimore, MD  
MAEF Juried Exhibition | Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD 
Maryland Institute College of Art B.F.A. Thesis Show, Baltimore, MD 
 
2006
Taylor Companies Retrospective Show | Taylor Companies, Washington DC



COLLECTIONS
Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts | Birmingham, AL
Birmingham Museum of Art | Birmingham, AL
FRAC Auvergne |Clermont-Ferrand, France.
High Museum of Art | Atlanta, GA
Virginia Museum of Fine Art | Richmond, VA


HONORS & AWARDS
Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellow | 2022
Sustainable Arts Foundation Awardee | 2020
UW Vilas Associates Award | 2016
Nellie McKay Fellowship | 2014
American Academy in Rome, Al Held Affiliate Fellowship | Rome Italy | 2009
Best in show, Maryland Artist Equity Foundation Juried Exhibition | Baltimore Museum of Art | 2007
Freda Eichelberger Scholarship | 2006 -2007
Thailheimer Scholarship | 2003 – 2007
ARTS Scholarship, MICA | 2003 – 2007
National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts Finalist and Scholarship recipient | 2003


SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Salas, Rafael Fransisco "Abstracting Lived Experiences: A review of Leslie Smith III at hawthorn Contemporary" New City Art: Visual Art Culture of Chicago and Beyond, January, 2021 https://art.newcity.com/2021/01/08/abstracting-lived-experience-a-review-of-leslie-smith-iii-at-hawthorn-contemporary/

​McAdams, Shane "Leslie Smith III at Hawthorn Contemporary: Painting or Sculpture?" Shepherd Express, October 2020 https://shepherdexpress.com/arts-and-entertainment/visual-art/leslie-smith-iii-at-hawthorn-contemporary-paintings-or-sculp/
 

Kordic, Angie “At EXPO Chicago 2019, An Abstract Dialog Hosted by Maus Contemporary That Shouldn't Be Missed” Widewalls Accessed September, 2019. https://www.widewalls.ch/maus-contemporary-expo-chicago-2019-leslie-smith-iii-interview/

“FOCUS III: I’ll see it when I believe it,”Exhibition Catalog, Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts Museum, June 2018. pp. 70-72 
 
“Echo Spectrum,” Exhibition Catalog, Trestle Contemporary Art Gallery, March 2017. pp. 43 - 47


Maus Contemporary Gallery: "Leslie Smith III. Left To Think Alone" Artist Monograph June 2017

Gleeson, Bridget  “Talking With American Painter Leslie Smith III About Abstraction, Anguish, and Architecture” Artsy Accessed January, 2017. https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-talking-american-painter-leslie-smith-iii-abstraction-anguish-architecture
 
Gonzalez Panizo, Javier “Pintura y Tiempo: Abstracción Post-Pictórica” Zona Crítica Accessed October 2016. http://exit-express.com/pintura-y-tiempo-abstraccion-post-pictorica/
 
Butler, Sharron “Interview: Leslie Smith III in Madison, Wisconsin” Two coats of Paint Accessed February, 2016. http://www.twocoatsofpaint.com/2016/02/interview-leslie-smith-iii-in-madison.html
 
“Living in The Flat Land” Revista de Arte Contemporaneo Madrid Art Process Accessed February 2015. http://www.madridartprocess.com/agenda-cultural-madrid/item/1582-living-in-the-flat-land.html
 
Gonzalez Panizo, Javier  “Leslie Smith III: Paint on The Surface” Blogearte – Critica De Arte Accessed February 2015. http://www.blogearte.com/2015/02/leslie-smith-iii-pintura-en-la.html
 
“What’s in an art Gallery? I dare to ask.”  INVESTIGART  Accessed January, 2015
https://investigart.wordpress.com/2015/01/29/artistas-en-el-escaparate-nos-vamos-de-galerias/
 
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston: Valerie Cassel Oliver, "Reverb" Out Side The Lines exhibition catalogue December 2014 pp. 143-147 Images 172-173
 
Callaloo Art & Culture in The African Diaspora. October 2014. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press. Issue 4 Vol. 37, pp. 867-869
 
Caroline Taylor “Monochromatic” Made, Issue 12, (April 2014): 8
 
Walter Lewellyn "Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood" Weld For Birmingham, Accessed March 13, 2014.
http://weldbham.com/blog/2014/03/13/dont-let-me-be-misunderstood/
 
Steinhoff, Jessica  “Leslie Smith III’s Paintings Explore Trauma Through Abstraction at MMoCA ” Isthmus The Daily Page, Accessed June, 2013. http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=40122
 
Leah kolb " Paintings in Conflict Leslie Smith's Contemporary Abstractions" I Dream Too Much exhibition catalogue, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art June 7, 2013
 
Katherine Murrell "Representation, Abstraction, Oscillation" Exhibition catalogue 
Dean Jensen Gallery July 27, 2012
 
Erica Agyeman "The Medium of The Message" International Review of African American Art, Issue 23.4, 
(December 2011): 35-38
 
Glen McNatt "Saying Their Piece About Fighters, War” Baltimore Sun, Accessed July, 2007.
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2007-07-25/features/0707250164_1_dame-of-maryland-college-of-notre-notre-dame

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, WI 2016 – 2020
​Vice President, Board of Trustee
 
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, WI 2014 - 2016
Trustee Board Member


Galerie Isabelle Gounod, Paris, France | 2019 - Present
Patrick Mikhail Gallery, Montreal, Canada | 2018 - Present
Heike Strelow, Frankfurt, Germany | 2016 - Present
Gallery Ponce + Robles, Madrid Spain | 2014 -2016
Maus Contemporary Gallery, Birmingham, AL | 2013-Present

​
APPOINTMENTS
​University Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI | 2017 - Present
Associate Professor Drawing and Painting

University Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI | 2011 - 2017
Assistant Professor Drawing and Painting

University Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI | 2010 - 2011
Senior Lecture,

University of Hartford, Hartford, CT | 2009 - 2010
Adjunct Professor,

​
LECTURES & VISITS

Massachusetts College of Art and Design | Boston, MA | 2019
Visiting Artist: Lecture and Studio Visits


Peninsula School of Art | Fish Creek, WI | 2019
Contemporary Themes in Abstraction Presentation and Workshop
 
Peninsula School of Art | Fish Creek, WI | 2018
Contemporary Themes in Abstraction Presentation and Workshop
 
The Look of THINGS, Curators Office, Washington, DC | 2017
Panelist


American University Department of Art | Washington DC | 2016
Kinetic: Conversations in Contemporary Arts
Featuring Leslie Smith III and Rushern Baker IV

Northwest Missouri State University, Maryville, MO | 2014
Visiting Artist: Lecture and Studio Visits

UW Milwaukee Peck School of Art , Milwaukee, WI | 2014
Visiting Artist: Lecture and Studio Visits

University of Iowa School of Art & Art History, Iowa City, IA | 2014
Visiting Artist: Lecture

“I Dream Too Much” Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, WI | 2013
Gallery talk and Docent talk

Marie Walsh Sharp Art Foundation Summer Session III, Colorado Spring, CO | 2013
Lecture & Painting Seminar instructor

Voices of Home Panel Discussion, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, New York, NY | 2012
Panel Discussion moderated by former MoCODA curator Kalia Brooks

Strivers Gardens Gallery, New York, NY | 2011
Gallery Talk & Panel Discussion “Contemporary African American Art”

Dreyfoos School of the Arts, West Palm Beach, FL | 2011
Visiting Artist: Lecture and painting, printmaking workshop

Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD | 2010
Visiting Artist: Lecture and Undergraduate Thesis Studio Visits

Yale University School of Art, New Haven, CT | 2010
Visiting Critic: Painting Studio II, seniors and juniors undergraduate majors

University Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI | 2010
Visiting Artist: Lecture and Graduate Studio


​  CV

Maus Contemporary
2411 Second Avenue North
Birmingham, AL, USA 35203

info@mauscontemporary.com 
​
+1 205 413 2999
Galerie Isabelle Gounod
13 Rue Chapon, 75003
Paris, France

contact@galerie-gounod.fr
+33 1 48 04 04 80

All Images and Text unless otherwise noted © copyright Leslie Smith III
Archive
  • H o m e
  • A b o u t
  • P a i n t i n g s
    • C u r r e n t
    • 2 0 1 8 - 2 0 2 0
  • P a p e r
    • In Silence
    • Consumption
    • QuIbble
    • Shape Sorter
  • P u b l i c a t I o n s
  • C V
  • C o n t a c t