This is Kim Smith’s debut solo show. The exhibition runs from 18th-27th November is aptly titled ‘Dreamers’, taking place at the much loved Golborne Gallery in West London. The gallery is fast growing a reputation for nurturing and showing the pinnacle of new and exciting talent.
The show will feature all new neon pieces as well as some more experimental work, tackling ‘dreams’ in a broader sense. One highlight is the portrait of a Syrian refugee who is currently displaced in Athens, with their life long aspirations intertwined into the image. Kim gained their trust to make this highly personal piece via the humanitarian work her friend and music publicist Imran Malik is doing; working with Malik and his whats app acting as the go-between on visits to Athens, Smith aims to bring the focus back to the individuals and raise funds for the cause via this piece.
The personal and sometimes darkly-romantic nature of Kim’s own narrative now crosses over into a socio-political context, where someone else’s story and their interpretation of ‘dreams’ will have a different meaning. Kim presents ideas of hope and salvation on an emotional and spiritual level but also in terms of practical action and personal involvement.
Her work to date has highlighted her understanding of the complex nature of the human condition, how we love, we laugh and we cry, sometimes all at the same time. Toying with the notion of gaze and the relationship between the seen and unseen, the visible and invisible. Beyond her work in neon, Kim also produces fine line work on paper that are witty, sensitively observed and highly relatable. Preoccupied with the contradictions of self as key elements of the wars within—the battle between good/bad, happiness/sadness, joy/pain, love/violence and all dualities as grayscale in-between. Her chosen materials of charcoal and gold leaf thus assume a powerful significance in their contrasting effects.
Private view 17th November – 18th – 27th November Golborne Gallery golbornegallery.com
