Details:
① Artwork:
Josh Smith Ghost Sample Unit
These gold-plated, solid .925 sterling silver pendants are wearable versions of the new sculptures that Josh Smith recently made in collaboration with gallerist and jeweler Will Shott. Each piece is handmade and translates Smith's inspiration of a ghost-like figure into a precious metal form that is purposefully minimally polished so as to convey the sense of an old relic.
For Josh Smith, finding the perfect collaborator to help fulfill his longtime ambition to make jewelry was worth the wait. Will Shott's gallery, WWW, will soon exhibit their extensive collaboration of sculptures hung from the ceiling. The pair partnered with Platform to transform three of them into sculptural jewelry in the form of pendants that hang from adjustable solid silver 20-22” chains. Apart from simply making them wearable, the chains underline how the Studio Jewels series fits into Smith's practice—both echoing the setup of the gallery display and nodding to the emphasis he often places on the borders of his paintings. To Smith, the pendants are not so much jewelry, but rather an extension, and even new form, of his fine art.
The Ghost figures are plated in gold, though patches of the underlying sterling silver intentionally shine through. Shott took a meticulously restrained approach to polishing the pendants, highlighting certain points so as to call to mind sculptures with areas smoothed over years of human touch. Each comes in a custom Studio Jewels box that is individually signed and dated by Smith, and also contains a specially designed vegan leather pouch.
Specs:
The Ghost figures are plated in gold, though patches of the underlying sterling silver intentionally shine through.
③ Artist:
Josh Smith is a New York- and Tennessee-based artist working with painting, collage, sculpture, printmaking, and artist’s books. He first emerged in the early 2000s for a series of paintings that depicted his own name as the primary motif, allowing him to experiment freely with abstraction, figuration, and other expressive possibilities. His work has since evolved to varied imagery and includes series’ featuring grim reapers, leaves, fish, streetscapes, and palm trees.
Josh Smith was born in 1976 in Okinawa, Japan. His father was in the US Army, and his family moved frequently. They eventually settled in East Tennessee, where the artist mostly grew up. His work has been presented in numerous solo exhibitions at museums and arts institutions in the United States and abroad, including at the Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn, Germany (2016); Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma, Rome (2015); Zabludowicz Collection, London (2013); The Brant Foundation Art Study Center, Greenwich, Connecticut (2011); Centre d'Art Contemporain Genève, Geneva (2009); De Hallen Haarlem, The Netherlands (2009–2010); Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna (2008); and SculptureCenter, New York (2004).
The artist has been represented by David Zwirner since 2017, and his first exhibition, Emo Jungle, took place at the gallery’s 519, 525, and 533 West 19th Street locations in New York in 2019. David Zwirner Online presented High As Fuck, the artist’s second solo show with the gallery, in 2020. Also in 2020, a solo exhibition of new paintings was presented concurrently at the gallery’s locations in London and 69th Street in New York. In September 2023, a solo presentation of the artist's work went on view at the gallery’s Paris location.
Smith’s work is held in numerous international public collections, including The Broad, Los Angeles; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Smith has lived and worked in New York since 1998.