Josh Smith: Studio News

Opening reception on Thursday, May 23, 6 – 9 pm
Artist talk with Josh Smith and Michelle Cotton (Director Kunsthalle Wien), 6 pm

Galerie Eva Presenhuber is pleased to present Studio News, the gallery’s sixth solo exhibition with the US-American artist Josh Smith.

In 2019, just before the dawn of COVID, Smith was interviewed by Ross Simonini for ArtReview in his studio warehouse in New York City, a multi-level live-work space and library with a lettuce garden in the basement.

Since the pandemic, Smith has emerged transformed as a new public persona. On Instagram, his presence suggests that he is an art-world ambassador, and on YouTube he hosts an ongoing lo-fi series called Studio News, in which he discusses his artistic pursuits and sometimes nothing at all. It is ‘straight man’ comedy, sprinkled with revelations about his inner life, all mixed up. It is the kind of unblinking deadpan that often looks back at you from Smith’s paintings: a sincere satire.

On the occasion of his new show Studio News at Galerie Eva Presenhuber in Vienna, Smith asked Simonini to do a second interview to follow up on their initial conversation and respond to its heavy, introspective tone.