Bridget Smith's photographs document the construction of fantasy, the architecture of entertainment and the environments created principally for the consumption of pleasure. She is interested in the way that entertainment is presented to us, in the organisation and control that is necessary for fantasies to be made real and in the places where pretence and reality are confused. Many of Smith's photographs focus on the details that go into the industry of escapism - the space, the lighting, the effects of colour and the choice of props. All of these are designed to seduce and allow us to embrace a new role, however momentarily. She sees her work as revealing a somewhat privileged view of this construction, like a tourist observing their surroundings without ever being a part of them.
Bridget Smith's new book 'Society' has recently been published by Steidl Verlag. Her exhibition Cosmos was
shown at Frith Street Gallery in 2006. Her work is included in the group exhibtion Stardust at Musee D'art Contemporain, Val de Marne until 13 January 2008.
In recent years, Smith has been included in group exhibitions at Kuenstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin; The Photographer's Gallery, London; South London Gallery, London and
Madison Art Center, Wisconsin. In 2003, she took part in Sodium Dreams, at the CCS Museum, New York. In 2002, she had a major solo exhibition at the Consorcio Salamanca,
which included a comprehensive publication of her work. She is represented in public and private collections including BMW, Munich, Victoria & Albert Museum, London and the
Arts Council of England.
Please click on the News section of the site to read about forthcoming exhibitions and projects.
BIOGRAPHY
1966
Born, England
1984-85
Central School of Art and Design, London
1985-1988
1993-1995
Goldsmiths' College, London
Goldsmiths' College, London
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2006 2005 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 GROUP
SHOWS 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1986 AWARDS and COMISSIONS
2000 1999 1991 1986 COLLECTIONS
©
2007 Frith Street Gallery
Two Rooms Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
'Rebuild', De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill on Sea
'Cosmos,' Frtih Street Gallery, London
Cosmos press release
Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin
Salamanca, Centro de Arte
Gallery Side 2, Tokyo
Frith Street Gallery, London
Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin
British Council Window Gallery, Prague
Fotogalleriet, Oslo
Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin
Frith Street Gallery, London
'All or Nothing', Studio Gallery, Budapest
Entwistle Gallery, London
'Stardust or the Last Frontier,' MAC/VAL Vitry-sur Seine
'Something that I'll Never Really See,' Sainsbury Centre for Visual Art, University of East Anglia, Norwich
'The Starry Messenger: Visions of the Universe', Compton Verney, Warwickshire
Summer Exhibition, Frith Street Gallery, London
'The Expanded Eye', Kunsthaus Zurich
'If it didn't exist you'd have to invent it: A partial Showroom History', the Showroom London
'Short History of Performance Part IV', Whitechapel Gallery, London
ARCO; presentation of new acquisitions of collection Siglo XXI, Madrid
'Inner Space', Focal Point Gallery, South-end on Sea
'Our Surroundings', Dundee Contemporary Arts
'Eccentric Spaces', Frith Street Gallery, London
Other Times, Contemporary British Art, City Art Gallery, Prague
'Sodium Dreams', CCS Museum, Bard College, New York
'Recent Acquisitions', Museum Moritzburg, Germany
'Project 1', Elga Wimmer PCC, New York
'Commodity, Firmness and Delight', Cube, Manchester; RIBA Arch Gallery, London
'Faux Real', Borusan Art Centre Istanbul, curated by Elga Wimmer
Summer Exhibition, Frith Street Gallery
'Once Again', John Hansard Gallery, curated by Jane Harris
NEW: Recent Acquisitions of Contemporary British Art, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
'Give and Take', Jerwood space, London
ARCO Artfair, Madrid
'ExtraOrdinary: American Places in Recent Photography', Madison Art Center, Wisconsin
'Fire Mask God', Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin
'Commodity, Firmness and Delight', Globe Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
'Magic Hour', Kunsthaus Graz, Austria
'Konfrontace: Czech and British artists in the UK', Czech Centre, London
'Because a Fire was in my Head', South London Gallery, London
'Real Places', Westfalischer Kunstverein, Munster
'Vertigo : The Future of the City', The Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow
'0 TO 60 IN 10 YEARS', Frith Street Gallery
'Blue Suburban Skies', Photographers Gallery, London
'Natural Dependency', Jerwood Space, London
'History Mag Collection', Ferens Art Gallery, Hull
'Inbreeder: Some English Aristocracies', Collective Gallery, Edinburgh
'Your Place or Mine', Elga Wimmer Gallery, New York
'New British Photography', Real Gallery, New York
''Made in London (Simmons & Simmons Collection)', Museu de Electricidade, Lisbon
Group Show, Frith Street Gallery
'The Tarantino Syndrome', Kunstlerhaus Bethanien
'Backpacker', Chiang Mai, Thailand
'The Oscars', La Nuova Pesa Gallery, Rome
'Public Relations', Stadthaus Ulm, Germany
'Within These Walls', Kettles Yard, Cambridge
'History'; Works from the MAG Collection, Ferens Art Gallery (and tour)
'Whisper & Streak', Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin
'World of Interiors', Binz 39, Zurich
'Alpenblick: die zeitgenoessische Kunst und das Alpine', Kunsthalle Vienna
'British Art Show 4', Edinburgh, Cardiff
'Try', Royal College of Art, London
'Ace', Hayward Gallery, London
MA Exhibition, Goldsmiths College, London
'British Art Show 4', Whitworth Gallery, Manchester
'Dorothy Cross, Ceal Floyer, Cornelia Parker, Helen Robertson, Bridget Smith',
Frith Street Gallery, London
'!GOL!', Mark Boote Gallery, New York
'The Event', 152c Brick Lane, London
'Close Encounters', Ikon Gallery, Birmingham
'Institute of Cultural Anxiety: Works from the Collection', ICA, London
'Raume fu'r Neue Kunst, Rolf Hengersbach, Wuppertal, Germany
'Having It', Spital Studio, London
'Wonderful Life', Lisson Gallery,London
'Time Out Billboard Project', London
'Tony Hayward, Jaki Irvine, Ian Pratt,
Bridget Smith', Riverside, London
'Hit and Run', London
'Love at First Sight', Showroom Gallery, London
'Rachel Evans, Anya Gallaccio, Bridget Smith',
Clove Gallery, London
Third Eye Centre, (CCA) Glasgow
West Norwood, Railway Arches, London
'Current', Swansea Arts Centre, Swansea
'New Contemporaries', ICA, London, (tour to Hatton Gallery, Newcastle; Hanover Gallery, Liverpool)
Tate Tokyo Residency
Commission for Vertigo: The Future of the City, Glasgow Commission for BMW
Financial Services Commission for Manchester Museum
GLA (LAB) Women's Photography Award
David Murray Studentship Award
Contemporary Art Society, London
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
BMW, Munich
Metropolitan Savings Bank, Ohio
Simmons & Simmons
Government Art Collection
Royal Bank of Scotland
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh
Jumex Collection, Mexico City
Denver Art Museum
Cranford Collection, London
Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz
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