2009 - Barack Obama Inauguration, "Inaugural Purple Ball", 12 original "Obama" paintings commissioned for and featured at event and distributed to varies celebrities such as Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Ashley Judd, Patricia Arquette, Josh Lucas, Amy Brenneman, Il Divo, and more. January 20th, 2009 at the Fairmont Hotel, Washington D.C.. Foad Afshari and Asal Masomi, Organizers.
2008 - Celestial Opera Company, "Solo Show", for opening of Giulio Cesare. Pasadena, CA. Michelle McWilliams, Curator.
2008 - Celestial Opera Company, "Solo Show", for opening of The Bartered Bride. Pasadena, CA. Michelle McWilliams, Curator.
2007 - Celestial Opera Company, "Solo Show", for opening of Beethoven's Fidelio. Pasadena, CA. Michelle McWilliams, Curator.
2006 - Colachi Arts, "Solo Show" - Manitou Springs, CO. Tina Siegfried, Director.
2009 - The Loft, "Pancakes and Booze" art show. Culver City, CA. Tom Kirlin, Director.
2008 - The Key Club, "Donation Show" for the David Lynch Foundation. Hollywood, CA. David Lynch and Preston Smith donating artists. Joshua Reed and Erin Skipper organizers.
2008 - Koo's Gallery, "Group Show" - Long Beach, CA. Nick Wildermuth, Director.
2008 - Colachi Arts, "Group Show" - Manitou Springs, CO. Tina Siegfried, Director.
2007 - The Cherryl Alan Design Group, "Featured Artist" - Beverly Hills, CA. Cherryl Alan, Neil Zaniboni, Owners.
2007 - jFERRARI Gallery, "Anniversary Group Show" - Atwater Village, CA. Jazmin Ferrari, Director.
2007 - Infusion Gallery, "Group Show" - Downtown Los Angeles, CA. Jill and Dover Abrams, Directors.
2006 - Colachi Arts, "Group Show" - Manitou Springs, CO. Tina Siegfried, Director.
2006 - Gallery Noir, "Group Show #2" - Los Angeles, CA. Anabella Ricardo, RPG, Director.
2006 - Gallery Noir, "Group Show" - Los Angeles, CA. Anabella Ricardo, RPG, Director.
2006 - ADM Project Gallery, Group Exhibition for Los Angeles Journal - Hollywood, CA. Coordinated by Neil Segura.
2006 - Caladan Gallery, "Birth of Worlds" - Beverly, MA. Marjorie Kaye, Director.
2005 - The J/R Gallery, "The Colors of J/R III" - Manhattan Beach, CA. Curated by Jason Patrick.
2005 - NoHo Gallery LA, "American Roots" - North Hollywood, CA. Curated by Daniel DeBevoise.
2005 - The J/R Gallery, "The Colors of J/R II" - Manhattan Beach, CA. Curated by Jason Patrick.
2005 - Caladan Gallery, "Dream States" - Beverly, MA. Marjorie Kaye, Director.
2005 - Thrillz Event/Group Exhibition - Downtown Los Angeles, CA.
2004 - Gallery 5350, "Holiday Show" - North Hollywood, CA. Curated by Leisa Wilcox and Randy Wilcox.
- Obama Inauguration Commission. Commissioned to paint a series of 12 original President Barack Obama paintings for the Inaugural Purple Ball in Washington D.C. on Inauguration Day (January 20th, 2009). Commissioned to paint them for varies celebrities attending the event, such as Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Ashley Judd, Josh Lucas, Amy Brenneman, Il Divo, and President Obama himself. Attended the Ball in D.C., where paintings were displayed and distributed.
- Commissioned piece for the Celestial Opera Company, for Giulio Cesare. Los Angeles, CA. - 2008
- Two murals commissioned by Tap Out company. Popular Clothing line out of Los Angeles, CA. Visit them at www.tapout.com - 2007
- Commissioned piece for the Celestial Opera Company, for Beethoven's Fidelio. Los Angeles, CA. - 2007
- Commissioned piece for the Celestial Opera Company, for The Bartered Bride. Los Angeles, CA. -2007
- ComedySportz Spokane, Player Drawings, Spokane, WA - 2002
- Numerous Private Commissions. - 2001 - Present
- "Painting the President, Over and Over", February 2009. Ketchum, ID, The Idaho Mountain Express. Article written by Dana Dugan.
- Named "Artist of the Day" on the Art Deadlines List/Artist of the Day blogspot. February 12th, 2008. http://artistoftheday/blogspot.com
- Artwork featured in Constellation Magazine, for the month of July, 2007. www.constellationmag.com
- "Los Angeles" painting featured in the Los Angeles Journal, for "I Hate L.A." article. Dec. 2005.
- "Painting the President, Over and Over", February 2009. Ketchum, ID, The Idaho Mountain Express. Article written by Dana Dugan.
- Produced additional illustrations for separate issues of the Los Angeles Journal. 2006.
- Paintings featured in film, "Yesterday's Colors" - Los Angeles, CA. 2005. Directed by Ariel Sciupac.
- Work featured in the short film, "John and Meg" - Los Angeles, CA. 2003. Infectious Art Productions.
- Work featured in the short film, "John and Meg" - Los Angeles, CA. 2003. Infectious Art Productions.
- Awarded Krelsheimer Assistantship. Assistant to Artist/Teacher Robert Gilmore. Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA - 2001-2002
- Named "Artist of the Day" on the Art Deadlines List/Artist of the Day blogspot. February 12th, 2008. http://artistoftheday/blogspot.com
2001 - Bachelors Degree from Gonzaga University - Spokane, WA. Fine Art and Theatre Arts.
2001-02 - Awarded Krelsheimer Assistantship. Assistant to Artist/Teacher Robert Gilmore. Focused on Painting and Drawing classes. Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA.
Through my artwork, I am mainly interested in exploring the existential experience of the human being. I find myself constantly infatuated by "scenes", almost "freeze-frames" of the human experience, ranging from the ordinary to those bordering on insanity. I am not concerned with adhering to specific "genres" that exist in art, in fact I will sometimes mix many different techniques in the same painting. Rather, my work focuses on and is an expression of the human condition, incorporating feelings of confusion, suffering, depression, wonder, nostalgia, empathy, happiness, etc... Though my work many times features strong elements of realism, these "scenes" come mainly from my imagination and therefore can be quite abstract. However, I do deal with the human figure in many paintings and when doing so I am concerned primarily with emotional content. Eyes are a focal point in many of my paintings, and I also deal with the appearance of human skin much as I would with fabric. This makes my work stand apart from many figurative paintings. I keep myself constantly inspired by surrounding myself with music, literature, movies, and by cultivating my own everyday experiences. This is what feeds my art and helps it to grow and change with every passing day.
Preston Marshall Smith
--Boyhood Images, Lead Pencil Tones, Big Western Sun-- But, it was the light of an incredibly smoggy Denver day that artist Preston Smith was born into. Growing up virtually across the American Northwest, Smith's early years were spent camping, hiking and moving through Colorado, Idaho and Wyoming. And like the landscape ripped through by the Rockies, Grand Tetons and irrigated by river beds, an imagination craggy faced and angular, heavied in deep shadow and thick sun setting colors, appeared as images scribbled onto paper scraps by a young artist. Days were filled with endless doodlings and pre-adolescent, auteur home movie making. By High School, Smith was working in acrylics and dedicated to refining his draftsmanship.
--Sketches of a Tiny City, Evergreen Trees Swaying, Objects and the World Around Him-- In Spokane, Smith attended Gonzaga University. Chasing the magic of his imagination, silent movies and independent cinema, he focussed on painting and acting classes. While completing numerous theatre productions, student films, endless still life and landscape canvases, Smith found himself struggling for a more personal art and abstract visual language. It was under the guidance of Professor Robert Gilmore that Smith began to experiment, culminating in his being the lone recipient of the prestigious Krelshiemer Assistantship.
--Evolving Canvases, Charlie Chaplin Closeup, Big Plastic Cosmopolitan-- Whether for the prospect of acting, the unique skyline, or perhaps just a congenital yearning for the smog, Smith moved to Los Angeles to struggle with acting and his artistic voice. Pieces bleeding rich, vibrant colors together through a violent crosshatching approach, created landscapes of diffused space. These works were populated by reduced, abstracted figures and bold dominating faces, shaded in the pathos of silent film melodrama. Works were presented in numerous group shows and galleries in the North Hollywood and Downtown Arts Districts, the piece "Los Angeles", became featured in the Los Angeles Journal.
--Face Gazing Out From Foreground, Solitude Skyline, The Moon-- Art proper, pared down and concrete; images existing somewhere in the midnights and alleyways of L.A. The human face, but changed, weighted down with the marks of experience: How a life hangs out open on a face and set against a cityscape of spare lines and smudge patterns. Smith's work takes a darker and more personal tone. He begins to successfully synthesize his concerns of existential figures located within an abstract spatial language, while further developing reductive highlighting techniques of wiping away layers to utilize canvas and natural light. More shows in Los Angeles, as well as Colorado and Boston, works featured in JFerrari and J.R Galleries, and had selected pieces represented by Colachi Arts and Infusion Gallery.
--Abstractive Figuration, Transcendental Meditation, Laughter Magnificently So-- Smith continues to experiment and branch out. His recent series on woods using house paints further collapses the abstract and figurative, through a rapid and aggressive process. Further, the new media allows the artist to experiment with the grains and texture of the materials and imagery. Also, joining with a small group of local artists, he became a part of the MLPRLLA, an art group committed to poking holes and opening spaces within culture; ie: a quasi-situationist, Dada fancied, punk fuelled, howling critique that plays seesaw with a militant aestheticism and zanni like improvisations. Smith's latest show had him one of two featured artists in a benefit for The David Lynch Foundation at the Key Club, in Hollywood. During the benefit, Smith completed a live painting of Mr. Lynch and had the work auctioned off along with Lynch's own artworks.
--Unity, Change, Hope-- Obama commission and a trip to Washington for the Presidential Inauguration. Preston Smith was greatly honoured and genuinely proud to have his 12 paintings of the President be part of that truly historic American day. He then shifts gears and begins an animation project as well as illustrations for an upcoming childrens book. And as always, he awaits the next chapter...
Written By: D