Biography

Michael Smith

Michael Smith was born in Derby, England in 1951.

Since 1981 Michael Smith’s paintings have been exhibited across Canada and internationally including, the Appleton Museum, Ocala, Florida, Galerie Damasquine, Brussels, the Saidye Bronfman Centre, Montréal and The Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan. His work was also exhibited at the Charles Cowles Gallery, New York.

He completed his MFA from Concordia University, Montréal in 1983.  Reviews and essays of Smith’s work have appeared in many journals and art magazines, including ARTnews, MODERN PAINTERS, Canadian Art and Border Crossings. His work was also featured in the Established Artists section of the Magenta Foundation’s 2008 book Carte Blanche v.2 Painting, a survey text on the current state of painting in Canada.

Michael Smith’s work can be found in the permanent collections of The Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal; Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery, Owen Sound; The Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton; The Glenbow Museum, Calgary. Several of his works belong to the prestigious Canadiana Collection and can be found in the Prime Minister’s residence at 24 Sussex, Ottawa; Rideau Hall and the Citadel in Quebec City.

Smith’s contemporary oil paintings of landscapes and seascapes investigate the relationship between image and abstraction, as well as memory and performance. Interested in illusions of illuminated space, Smith explores how light can be both incidental and instrumental to landscape paintings. Using an expressive impasto, he creates a visual language that tells a history of moments where atmospheric conditions have made claims on particular places. Ripped, jagged backgrounds and stormy explosions give way to streams of water, light, and cloud, creating places that are “both exquisite and tremendously disturbing.”

Selected Works

Exhibitions

Michael Smith

September 27 - October 28 - 2023

Michael Smith “A Part of Speech”

For our 7th solo exhibition with Montreal painter Michael Smith, we are excited to introduce a new body of work where poems have become the primary source of influence. 

More
Michael Smith

June 4 - July 25 - 2020

Michael Smith “In Light of Time”

This is our 6th exhibition with Montreal painter Michael Smith.  Our exhibition explores a small survey of canvases ranging in date from 2014 - 2020 from seascapes to landscapes to a dynamic new triptych.

More

Curriculum Vitae

BORN

England in 1951

COLLECTIONS

24 Sussex Drive
Air Canada
Appleton Museum of Art, Florida
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
Beaverbrook Art Gallery
Bronfman Collection
Canadian Pacific
Canada Council Art Bank
Cenovus Energy Inc.
Claridge Incorporated Montreal
Code Hunter Wittman
Concordia University Art Gallery
Fidelity Investments
Glenbow Museum
Lantic Sugar
La Citadelle
Lethbridge University
Lotto Quebec
Ministere des affaires exterieres du Canada
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Musee d’art contemporain de Montreal
Musee d’art de Joliette
Musee de Quebec
Musee du Bas-Saint-Laurent
Museum London
National Bank
Pan Canadian Petroleum Ltd
Parlee McLaws
Pepsi Cola Canada
Rideau Hall
Royal Bank of Canada
Scotiabank
Sedgwick Insurance
Stornoway
The Canada Council Art Bank
The Canadiana Fund
Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery
Universite de Sherbrooke
Westbourne Industries

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023 – A Part of Speech, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, ON
2021 – Underland, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, ON
2020 – In Light of Time, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, ON
2019 – The Eye of the Storm, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, ON
2017 – Descry, TrepanierBaer Gallery, Calgary, AB
2017 – Memory Currents, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, ON
2017 – Fugitive Ground, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, ON
2016 – Memory Current, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, ON
-Presence & Dissolution, Galerie Michel Guimont, Quebec City, QC
2015 – Art 45, Montreal, QC
2014 – Michael Smith: CUT, Trepanier Baer Gallery, Calgary, AB
– Paintings, Studio 21, Montreal, QC
– New Works, Art 45, Montreal, QC
2013 – The Vanishing Line, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, ON
– New Paintings, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, ON
2012 – Recent Work, Galerie Michel Guimont, Quebec City, Quebec
– New Paintings, Trepanier Baer Gallery, Calgary
– New Paintings, Studio 21, Halifax, Nova Scotia
2011 – Noir, Art45, Montreal, QC
– Mirror Sky with Studies, Eleanor London Gallery, Cote Saint-Luc Library, Montreal, QC
2011 -Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, ON
2010 – Crater Ponds, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, ON
– Wresting Vision, Conjuring Place, Art Gallery of Peel, Peel, ON
2009 – Luminocratic, Art 45, Montreal, QC
2008 – Recent Works, Galerie Michel Guimont, Quebec, QC
– Deeps and Skies, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, ON
2007 – Cradle of Words, Trepanier Baer Gallery, Calgary, AB
– Recent Works, Two Person Show, Studio 21, Halifax, NS
2006 – Mass & Dissolution, Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, QC
– Returning Skies, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, Ontario
– Wresting Vision, Trepanier Baer Gallery, Calgary, Alberta
– Wresting Vision Earth & Air, McClure Gallery, Montreal, Quebec.
2005 – Light & Matter, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, Ontario.
– Recent Works, Studio 21, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
2004 – Recent Paintings, Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, Quebec.
– Portraits and Landscapes, Trepanier Baer Gallery (Viewing Room), Calgary, AB
2003 – Recent Paintings, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, ON
– Recent Works, Studio 21, Halifax, Nova Scotia. (Two Person Show)
– Hobbema’s Light, Trepanier Baer Gallery, Calgary, Alberta.
2001 – Broken Ground, The Appleton Museum of Art, Ocala, Florida.
– Recent Paintings, Trepanier Baer Gallery, Calgary, Alberta.
– Broken Ground. Galerie de Bellefeuille. Montreal. Quebec.
– Recent Paintings, Studio 21, Halifax, Nova Scotia. (Two Person Show)
– Recent Paintings, James Baird Gallery, St John’s., Nfld. (Two Person Show)
2000 – Fire & Water, Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto, Ont.
1999 – Recent Paintings, Galerie St-Laurent + Hill, (L’autre equivoque), Ottawa
– Recent Paintings, Studio 21, Halifax, Nova Scotia. (Two Person Show) 1998
– Recent Paintings, Trepanier Baer Gallery, Calgary, Alberta
– Learning Waters, Atelier Gallery, Vancouver, B.C.
1997 – Line of Trees, Burning, Espace 502, Belgo Building, Montreal, Quebec
– Lightenings, Drabinsky & Friedland Galleries, Toronto, Ontario
– Recent Works, Waddington & Gorce, Montreal, Quebec 1996
– Tempered Ground, Atelier Gallery, Vancouver, B.C.
– Syzygy, Galerie Damasquine, Brussels, Belgium
1995 – The Trespass of Memory, Trepanier Baer Gallery, Calgary, Alberta
– Fugitive Sites, Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec
1994 – A Length of Days, Drabinsky Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
1993 – Matiere/Memoire, Galerie Damasquine, Brussels, Belgium
– Recent Works, Galerie L’Autre Equivoque, Ottawa, Ontario
– Broken Ground: Seeing-in the Landscape, Trepanier Baer Gallery, Calgary, Alberta
– Locations of Recall, Studio 21, Halifax Nova Scotia
1992 – Lieux Rememores, Galerie Michel Guimont, Quebec, Quebec
1991 – Recent Works, Drabinsky Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
1990 – Recent Works, Art 45, Montreal, Quebec
– Recent Paintings, Gallery 101, Ottawa, Ontario
1988 – Recent Works, Centre Saidye Bronfman, Montreal, Quebec
1987 – Works on Paper, Michael Coote Gallery, Carleton University, Ottawa
– Recent Works, Art 45, Montreal, Quebec
1986 – Recent Works, Art 45, Montreal, Quebec 1985
– Recent Works, Art 45, Montreal, Quebec
1984 – Peintures, Galerie Articule, Montreal, Quebec

EDUCATION

1980 – 83 MFA Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec
1971 – 74 BFA Falmouth College of Art, Falmouth, England
1970 – 71 St Alban’s College of Art, England

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2018 – The Big Picture, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, ON
-Art at PAMA: 50 Years of Collecting, Peel Art Gallery, Brampton, ON
2017 – The European Collection, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, NB
2015 – Nature of Conflict, curated by David Hall, The Warren G. Flowers Gallery, Westmount, Quebec
– Paysages Revisités, Collection Loto-Québec, Centre d’exposition du Vieux Presbytère, à Saint-Bruno, Quebec
– Reflets VI, La Maison de la culture Marie- Uguay, Montreal
– Exchange: PAMA Artists Select, Peel Art Gallery Museum + Archives, Brampton
2014 – Territoires Imaginés, Collection Loto Quebec, Travelling Exhibition: Centre national d’exposition, Saguenay; Centre d’exposition de Rouyn-Noranda; Centre d’exposition de Val d’Or (Repérage)
– Edge of Wilderness, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto
– Works on Paper: Watercolour Unbound, Studio Georgeville, Quebec
– Forging a Nation: Canada Goes to War, The Military Museum, Calgary
2012 – Victoria Collects, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, BC
2011 -Noir: Ron Martin, Barbara Steinman, Michael Smith, Robert Longo, Jonathan
Plante, Mark Ruwedel, Alison Rosslter, Art 45, Montreal, QC
2009 -Beaverbrook Art Gallery, 50th Anniversary Collection, Fredericton, NB
-Lotto Quebec, Collection, Musee des Beaux-Arts, Montreal
2007 – Conflux: Seeing Apart – Six Montreal Artists, St. Thomas – Elgin Public Art
Centre
2006 – Selections from The Collection, The Appleton Museum of Art, Ocala, Florida.
-Collecting Art 201, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, ON
2005 – Studio 21, Montreal Connection, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
– Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Season Preview, Toronto, Ontario.
2004 – Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Inaugural Exhibition, Toronto, Ontario.
2003 – Line of Trees, Burning (Gallery 1) Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, NS
2002 – Works From The Collection The Appleton Museum of Art, Ocala, Florida.
2000 – The Single Tree, London Regional Art Museum, London, Ont
– Dialogues, Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery, Owen Sound, Ont
1999 – Recent Paintings, Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, Quebec
– Les peintures, Galerie Rene Blouin, Montreal, Quebec
– Landscape, Newfoundland, James Baird Gallery, St John’s, Newfoundland
– East – West, Therese Dion Art Contemporain, Montreal, Quebec
– In Waiting, Art Gallery, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, Memorial University, Corner Brook” Newfoundland
– True North: The Landscape Tradition in Contemporary Canadian Art, The Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
– 20/21 VISION, Studio 21 Fine Art Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia
1998 – The Painters’ Newfoundland, Art Gallery of Newfoundland &. Labrador, St Johns, Nfld.
– PEINTURE PEINTUR£ Edifice Belgo, Montreal, Quebec
1997 – Recent Works, Studio 21, Halifax, Nova Scotia (Two-Person Show)
– La Collection d’oeuvres d’art de la Banque Nationale, Domaine Cataraqui, Quebec
– Eight Montreal Artists in Prague, Rasinovo Nabrezi, Prague, Czechoslovakia 1995 – La Collection Musee d’art Contemporain, Montreal, Quebec
– Lush, GalerieArticule, Montreal, Quebec
– Last Chance for Eden: The Contemporary Sublime, Trepanier Baer Gallery, Calgary
– Group Exhibition Galerie Neiriz, Berlin, Germany
1994 – Reflecting Paradise, Home Oil Tower, Calgary, Alberta
– Works from the Permanent Collection Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Quebec
– Peinture Ponctuation Musee d’art de Joliette, Quebec
1993 – Abstraction: Which Way From Here? Canada Trust Tower, Calgary, Alberta
– Cenacle, Belgo Building, Montreal, Quebec
1992 – Reinvented Sites, Trepanier Baer Gallery, Calgary, Alberta
1991 – Contemporary Canadian Works on Paper, Concordia University Art Gallery, Montreal, Quebec.
– Three Montreal Painters, Drabinsky Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
1990 – Peintures des Annees 80, La Galerie du Grand Theatre de Quebec, Quebec
– Two Montreal Painters K A A I Gallery, Kingston, Ontario
– Collection Pret d’Oeuvres, Musee du Quebec, Quebec – Group Exhibition Grunwald Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
– Five Montreal Artists, White Water Gallery, North Bay, Ontario
1989 – Montreal Sur Papier, Centre Saidye Bronfman, Montreal, Quebec
– Collection Pret d’Oeuvres, Musee du Quebec, Quebec
1988 – Contemporary Canadian Works on Paper, Concordia University Art Gallery, Montreal, Quebec.
1987 – Gallery Artists, Salt House Gallery, St Ives, England
1986 – 37e Salon de la Jeune Peinture, Grand Palais, Paris, France
– Group Exhibition, La Galerie de L ‘Universite du Quebec a Montreal, Montreal,Quebec
– Five Montreal Artists, SAW Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario
1985 – Group Exhibition. Ga/erie Gilles Gheerbrandt. Montreal, Quebec
– The Totemic Impulse, Galerie John A Schweitzer, Montreal, Quebec
1984 – Five Montreal Artists, Forest City Gallery, London, Ontario
– Quebec Painting, The University Of New Brunswick, Saint John, New Brunswick – Five Montreal Artists, 699 St Maurice, Montreal, Quebec
1982 – Painting, Montreal, Pavilion de Quebec, Montreal, Quebec
1981 – Biennale, Centre Saidye Bronfman, Montreal, Quebec
1978 – Connect: Readings and Performance, VehiculeGaliery, Montreal, Quebec
1973 – Group Exhibition. Penwith Gallery, St Ives, England
1972 – The Stowells Awards, The Mall Galleries, London, England

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2016  – “Michael Smith – Memory Current,” An Essay by Robert Enright.
2015  – “ The Nature of Conflict”, Essay by David Hall, Warren G Flowers Gallery, Montreal, Quebec.
2013  – “Les artistes avant tout,” Essay by Marie-Helene Paradis, Collection Loto Quebec, OUI Magazine, Quebec
2010 – KISSICK, John; Crater Ponds, catalogue, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, ON
– Wresting Vision, Conjuring Place, Art Gallery of Peel, Peel, ON
2009 – Nomade, la Collection Lolo-Quebec en movement, Loto-Quebec, Montreal, QC
2008 – MAGENTA Carte Blanche 2, Established Artists, The Magenta Foundation, Toronto, ON
– HENRY, Victoria; Art At Work / L’Art au Travail, catalogue, Art Bank, Ottawa
2006 – TOUSIGNANT, Isa; Mass & Dissolution, catalogue, Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, QC
– MEEHAN, Brian; Returning Skies, catalogue, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, ON
2001 – SPALDING, Jeffrey; Broken Ground: The Tangled Garden of Michael Smith, catalogue, Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal
2000 – MILLARD, Laura; The Single Tree, catalogue, London Regional Art Gallery, Ont
1999 – True North: The Landscape Tradition in Contemporary Canadian Art, catalogue, The Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 1997
– Eight Montreal Artists in Prague, catalogue
1996 – SIMMS, Lorraine and SMITH, Michael; Syzygy, catalogue, Galerie Damasquine, Brussels, Belgium
1995 – SWAIN, Robert; Hidden Values, Contemporary Canadian Art in Corporate Collections, Douglas & Mclnytyre, Vancouver, Toronto
– CAMPBELL, James; Depth Markers, Critical Anthology
1994 – LACROIX, Laurier; Peinture. Ponctuation; Trois, Revue d’ecriture et d’erudition, vol 9 no.3
1993 – FRANCK, Philippe; Michael Smith: Matiere, Memoire, catalogue, Galerie Damasquine, Brussels, Belgium
– Les Ateliers S’exposent. catalogue, Cobalt Art Actuel, Montreal 1991 – Chefs-d’oeuvre de la collection, Musee du Quebec, Quebec
1989 – CAMPBELL, James 0; Montreal Sur Papier, catalogue, Centre Saidye Bronfman, Montreal, Quebec
– Contemporary Canadian Works on Paper, catalogue, Concordia University Art Gallery, Montreal
1988 – CAMPBELL, James D; Michael Smith: Paintings, catalogue, Centre Saidye Bronfman, Montreal, Quebec
1985 – DAIGNEAULT, Gilles; Quebec La Trans-Avantgarde Existe-t’elle?, 37e Salon de la jeune Peinture, Grand Palais, Paris, France

REVIEWS & ARTICLES

2019 “Illusion Horizon”, Lissa Robinson, Galleries West Magazine
2019 – ‘Five Questions with Michael Smith’, Artlogic
2019 – Katy Cowan; ’Eye of the Storm: Michael Smith’s dramatic paintings of stormy seas during the Franklin expedition’, creativeboom.com
2018 – ‘The Eye of the Storm’ at Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto’, Blouin Artinfo
2016 – ‘Michael Smith: Painting, Bernard Levy, Vie des Arts, Quebec, 60th Anniversary issue 2016 – ‘Michael Smith: Three Painters Reimagine Abstraction, The Star, Toronto
2016 – ‘Memory Current: Nathan Richards, Blouin Artinfo, Quebec, Nov 29th
2014  – Kelly Cryderman; Art exhibit shows trauma of Canada at war, Military Museums Calgary, The Globe & Mail January 26th – Exhibition Review, John Pohl, Montreal Gazette. 2012  – ‘Michael Smith: de bruit et de fureur, Josianne Desloges, Le Soleil, Quebec
2009 – Mayhem, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, ARTnews, October 09
– James CAMPBELL; The Tumult of Landscape, BORDER CROSSINGS, August 09
2008 – Betty Ann JORDAN; Michael Smith, Nicholas Metivier, ARTnews, December 08
2007 – Mitchel RAPHAEL; Janine Krieber’s Home Improvements, Macleans Magazine, August issue p.11
2006 – Nancy TOUSLEY; Painter Michael Smith captures feeling of nature, Calgary Herald, May 2006
– James CAMPBELL; Wresting Vision, MODERN PAINTERS, April issue
- Isak AUGUSTINE; Michael Smith: Wresting Vision, Vie des Arts, No. 202
– Nancy TOUSLEY; Montreal painter Michael Smith enlarges his field of vision, Calgary Herald, March 18
-Isa TOUSIGNANT; High Time For An Art Fix, Hour, Montreal. Jan 12 – 18
2005 -Elissa BARNARD; Montreal artists’ works exhilarating, The Halifax Herald, Halifax, Mar. 26
2003 -Elissa BARNARD; Recent Paintings, The Chronicle Herald, Halifax,
-Nancy TOUSLEY; Michael Smith tests the limits of light, Calgary Herald, Jan 25.
2001 – Nancy TOUSLEY; The Archaeology of Landscape, Border Crossings, Issue No. 78
– Sholem KRISHT ALKA; This land is physical, The Mirror, Mtl, ApI 29
1999 – Henry LEHMAN; Artist and landscapes, The Gazette, Mtl, Dec 18
– Aline BEGIN; Quand la couleur dense danse, Ledroit, Ottawa Hull, Dec 27
– Sharon WORKMAN; Inviting Imagination. The Sunday Herald, Nova Scotia, Nov 7
– Stephanie BERUBE; True North: Ie paysage canadien 6 Taiwan, La Presse.
Montreal, Dec 23
– Bernard LAMARCHE; Made in Taiwan, Le Devoir, Montreal, Jan 14
1998 – Henry LEHMANN; Paint, paint, everywhere paint; The Gazette. Montreal, June 13
– J. M. SULLIVAN; Province Stars in colourful art show, Evening Telegram, St John’s, Mar 8
– M. VAUGHAN-Jackson; First Impressions, Evening Telegram, St John’s, NFLD, Feb 13
1997 – Elissa BARNARD; Layering for interpretation, The Chronicle Herald, Halifax.
– Bernard LAMARCHE; Line of Trees, Burning. Le Devoir. Montreal, Mai 10
– Bernard LAMARCHE; Empatements paysagistes. Le Devoir. Montreal. Mars 8
– Dorota Kozinska; Art, The Gazette, Montreal. March 15
1996 – Daniele GILLEMON; Tendances explosives de I’art. LeSolr, Brussels, Belgium – Stephane REY; Syzygy, L’Echo. Brussels. Belgium, Fevrier 17
– Michael SCOTT; Into the thick of things with colour, Vancouver Sun. Vancouver, April 27
1995 – Nancy TOUSLEY; Art, Calgary Herald, October 20
– Josee LAPOINTE, Pour tous les gouts au Salon des galeries d’art du Quebec, Le Soleil, Mardi 14 novembre
– Ann DUNCAN; Best of the Rest, The Gazette, Montreal. December 2
– David LISS, Landscape PaInter in Concordia Show. The Gazette, Montreal, October 14
1994 – Mona HAKIM, La peinture passe par Joliette,Le Devoir. Montreal, mai 28
1993 – Ann DUNCAN; Praise Pouring in for Michael Smith. The Gazette. Montreal, December 11
– John Bentley MAYS; Abstractly Speaking Calgary is Where it’s A t, Globe and Mail. Toronto, September 25
– Gavin AFFLECK; A Winter of Discontent For Painting, ETC Montreal. No. 23
– Elissa BARNARD; Michael Smith: Landscapes, The Chronicle Herald. Halifax. March 1 8
– Nancy TOUSLEY; Exhibition Reflects on Changing Landscape, The Calgary Herald, January 18
1992 – Dany QUINE; Les huiles et acquarel/es de Michael Smith: abstraction et figuration, LeSoleil, 21 mars
1990 – Claire GRAVEL; Michael Smith, Les couleurs du Paradis. MTL, octobre
– Claire GRAVEL; Michael Smith, Art 45, Le Devoir. 20 Octobre
1989 – Claire GRAVEL; Les paysages dramatiques de Michael Smith, Le evoir. 14 Janvier
– Suzanne BOIRE; Michael Smith: A Dialogue of Landscape. Journal Cote-des-Neiges
1988 – Daniel OXLEY; The temperament of Seeing: Landscape, Poetry and the Painting of Michael Smith, ETC Montreal. June
1986 – Sandra P AIKOWSKY; Michael Smith. Vanguard. Summer
1985 – Christine ROSS; L’impulsion totemique, Vanguard, April, Vol. 14, no.3
– Sandra PAIKOWSKY; Personal Bests, Canadian Art, Fall – Gilles DAIGNEAULT; Expositions, LeDevoir, 4 mai
– M. PHILIPPE, Expositions, Vie des Arts. Vol XXX, no. 119
– Sandra PAIKOWSKY; MichaelSmith, Recent Paintings, Vanguard, March
– Ian FERRIER; Montreal in Review. The Art Post Jan/Feb
– Vie des Arts, Vol XXIX, no. 117
1981 – Franc;ois TETREAU; Michael Smith, Prospecteur des eaux principales et des regions origine/les, Vie des Arts, Vol.25, No.102 (printemps)

AWARDS

2002 -Conseil des arts et des letters, ‘A’
2001 – The Canada Council, Arts Grant ‘A’
2000 – The Canada Council, Arts Grant ‘A’
1995 – Conseil des arts et des lettres du Quebec, Short-term grant
1993 – Ministere des Affaires culturelles du Quebec, Short-term grant
1991 – Canada Council Arts Grant ‘B’
1990 – Ministere des Affaires culturelles du Quebec, Short-term grant
1989 – Ministere des Affaires culturelles du Quebec, Short-term grant
1988 – Ministere des Affaires culturelles du Quebec, Short-term grant

PUBLISHED WRITING / POETRY

1980 – Delta, Literary Review, Cambridge, England
– Matrix, Literary Magazine, Canada
– Montreal Writers Forum, Montreal, Canada 1979
– Grain, Canada
– Bananas, England
– Matrix; Special Anthology Issue, Canada
1978 – Delta, Literary Review, Cambridge, England
– Meridian, England
1978 – Omens Poetry Magazine, England
1978 – South-West Arts Review, England
1977 – Delta, Literary Review, Cambridge, England
– Workshop New Poetry, England

TEACHING

1990 – 16 Instructor, (Part-time Prof. Leave since 1998) Fine Arts, Dawson College, Montreal, Quebec
2005 Artist-Teacher, Graduate Studies, Vermont College, Vermont, USA
1990 – 05 Instructor, Fine Arts, Dawson College, Montreal, Quebec
1997 – 98 Artist-Teacher, Graduate Studies, Vermont College, Vermont, USA
1982 – 90 Part-time Instructor, Fine Arts, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec
1982 – 90 Part-time Instructor, Fine Arts, Dawson College, Montreal, Quebec
1988 Nova Scotia College of Art & Design, Summer Session, Studio Arts
1982 – 84 Part-time Instructor, Fine Arts, Vanier College, Montreal, Quebec
1975 – 77 Part-Time Instructor, Studio Arts, Design Dept., Bristol Polytechnic, Bristol, England
1976 Corsham College of Art, Part-Time Instructor, Studio Arts, Corsham, England

VISITING ARTIST

2017 – Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, NB
2005 – Ontario College of Art & Design, Toronto, ON
2005 – York University, Toronto, ON
2005 – Art Gallery Of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia
2005 – Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, Nova Scotia
2003 – Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, Nova Scotia
2001 – The Appleton Museum of Art, Ocala, Florida
– Alberta College of Art, Calgary, Alberta
1999 – Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, Nova Scotia
1998 – University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta
– Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec
1997 – Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, Nova Scotia
1995 – University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta
– Alberta College of Art, Calgary, Alberta
– Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec
1993 – Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, Nova Scotia
1992 – Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec
1988 – Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, Nova Scotia
1985 – University of New Brunswick, Lorenzo Society, Saint John, NB

News

Smith Catalogues Now Available

Michael Smith's 160 page exhibition catalogue for his Beaverbrook retrospective is now available

More

Michael Smith @ Beaverbrook

Michael Smith: Sea of Change @ Beaverbrook Art Gallery begins May 25

More

Press

Border Crossings

The Tumult of Landscape: Michael Smith's Painted World

August 2009, Volume 28, Number 3

James D. Campbell

More

Modern Painters

Michael Smith: Wresting Vision McLure Gallery at the Visual Arts Centre

January 6, 2006

James D. Campbell

More

Calgary Herald

Michael Smith Tests the Limits of Light

January 25, 2003

Nancy Tousley

More

Border Crossings

The Archeology of Landscape

2001

Nancy Tousley

More

Publications

Michael Smith

Michael Smith Sea of Change

John Leroux & Nancy Tousley

Goose Lane Editions with Beaverbrook Art Gallery

July 2024

160 pages

$45

Accompanying a major exhibition organized by the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in July 2024, Michael Smith: Sea of Change features 50 large-scale reproductions, an essay on Smith’s trajectory as an artist by critic-curator Nancy Tousley, and an interview with the artist by John Leroux.

Michael Smith Wresting Vision Conjuring Place

James D. Campbell

Art Gallery of Peel

January 2010

62 pages 30 colour illustrations, 10 x 8 inch hardcover

$25.00

Exhibition catalogue of Michael Smith's solo exhibition at the Art Gallery of Peel in 2010.

Videos

Michael Smith Video Tour

Watch our June 2020 video tour of Michael Smith's exhibition "In Light of Time".  Our exhibition explores a small survey of canvases ranging in date from 2014 – 2020 from seascapes to landscapes to a dynamic new triptych.

Michael Smith Paints “Rouffignac”

Montreal painter Michael Smith shares a behind-the-scenes video of him painting the monumental 2020 triptych "Rouffignac". The painting was inspired by a 1972 trip to southern France where he discovered a hidden entrance to ancient paleolithic caves.