My approach to art making blends and blurs aesthetic, intellectual, ethical, ideological, spiritual and geographic boundaries—where coincidence can become significant and experiences personal, satirical, whimsical, and hazardous. I prefer to weave the fringe of the frontier into the uniform of tradition. Acorns, for instance, may serve as an art medium or as an undecipherable text; as a simple pattern or a complex hunting mechanism:
- I think acorns look like temples, huts, or mosques.
- I’ve heard the word “acorn” initiate a political debate between liberal and conservative talking heads.
- Did you know Columbus forced natives to collect gold dust in acorn shaped bells?
- I want to make acorn muffins.
In Virginia, in 2007, 400 years after the founding of the first English settlement in America, I presented the exhibition InCarNation: The Hampton Roads 400. This exhibit served as a contemporary reinterpretation of the 17th century explorer John Smith. I was living on the James River at the time. After moving to the Foothills of North Carolina I found a figure who could fill the boots of John Smith.
Daniel Boone became the next step on my art trek. Moving into the 18th century with Boone allowed me to follow up on the themes of ecology, genocide, exchange, and the concepts of progress. I also expanded my study into the themes of the American Revolution, the Great Awakening, the slave debate, global conflict, the Enlightenment, and new technology—incorporating photographs, paintings, natural and manmade objects and historical documentation for my story of Boone.
Dan Smith, Clear Cut (detail), 2009-10. Photography and performance. Image courtesy of the artist.
About the artist
Dan Smith’s art has been featured in over 100 exhibitions throughout the country including the prestigious National Academy Museum of Art in New York City; the DC Art Center in Washington, DC; the Taos Art Museum in Taos, New Mexico; The Academy of Art in San Francisco, California; and Virginia Commonwealth’s Anderson Gallery, in Richmond, Virginia.
Smith is a graduate of BFA and MFA studio art programs at East Carolina University and the University of South Carolina’s, respectively. Before moving to Hickory, North Carolina in December 2003, he spent over 15 years teaching studio art and humanities at colleges in South Carolina and Virginia, including Claflin College in Orangeburg, South Carolina; Hampton University, in Hampton, Virginia; and Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond, Virginia.
In April 2007, as part of the 400th Anniversary of Jamestown, Virginia, Dan Smith’s one-person exhibition InCarNation: The Hampton Roads 400 – A Reinterpretation of John Smith, opened at the Charles H. Taylor Center in Hampton, Virginia. During the past three years, the artist has been developing his next installation exhibition entitled MANinfested DESTINY: From Boone to Boon – A Re-interpretation by Dan Smith, featuring his story of Daniel Boone.
Special Events Associated with this Exhibition
During the exhibition on most Wednesdays, Dan Smith will be painting in the gallery and available for questions and talks. Saturdays September 4 and October 2, from 10am to noon, Smith will lead free walks around Boone. The walks will begin and end in his Turchin Gallery exhibition, and will also include:
- Belk Library;
- the Daniel Boone sculpture;
- the Boone Monument at Rivers Park;
- the Greenhouse;
- the Downtown Post Office Mural; and
- Smith’s photographs of contemporary residents representing the “many hats” of Boone at High Country Press.
Additional resources
- Flickr – Official website