In the Open: Art and Architecture in Public Spaces is sponsored by Cary Brown-Epstein + Steven Epstein and with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency.

Ned Smyth

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BOMBLive!
Ned Smyth by Keith Sonnier
Directed by Betsy Sussler
In the Open: Art & Architecture in Public Spaces

“I got kind of hooked on the alchemy of cement, where you take sand and water and put it together.”

— Ned Smyth

Though Ned Smyth is best known for his public art projects, his studio work has been highly acclaimed since he began showing in the 1970s. He continues to produce both public and studio work today. His forthcoming public project, The Next Generation, will be installed at Lehman College in the Bronx. His recent show at Salomon Contemporary featured primal, found objects—such as stones, twigs and cast concrete—composed for private spaces.

Fellow sculptor Keith Sonnier, known for his work with neon, visited Smyth at his Shelter Island studio early last summer. The two discussed their early days as artists in the SOHO scene in the ‘70s as well as the development of, and tension between, their public and studio art.

 

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Special thanks to Cary Brown-Epstein, Steven Epstein, Andrew Fierberg, Nicole Klagsbrun, James Salomon, Julian Smyth, Mimi Thompson & James Rosenquist, David Zwirner Gallery & the Gordon Matta-Clark Estate, and the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency.  

Director: Betsy Sussler
Director of Photography: Marie Maciak
Second Camera: Catarina Verde
Sound: Ryan Anderson
Editing: Clinton Krute & Marie Maciak

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