BIOGRAPHY
Kaneem Smith was born in Buffalo, NY, and raised and based in Houston where she is a practicing visual artist and fine arts educator. She studied at Rice University and the Maryland Institute College of Art before receiving her Bachelor of Arts Degree from Sarah Lawrence College, and then her Master of Fine Arts Degree from Syracuse University.
Her work has been included in numerous venues such as Artpace, San Antonio; the African American Museum in Dallas; Art League Houston, Station Museum of Contemporary Art; Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ; Amarillo Museum of Art; National Art Gallery, Athens, Greece; Lima Art Museum, Peru, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Among her many accomplishments, exhibitions, awards, and residencies, Smith was the recipient of visual arts fellowships through the Edward F. Albee Foundation, the Vermont Studio Center, Atelierhaus Hilmsen Residency for Artists in Germany, the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, Artadia, and the Creative Capital Foundation in New York.
Kaneem Smith is represented by Nicole Longnecker Gallery, Houston, Texas.
STATEMENT
About her work, Ms. Smith said, "Since childhood I have long been captivated by the concept of acquiring organic, plant-based and synthetic fibers and then transforming that material for non-utilitarian use and aesthetic significance. Textile as something tactile and having its own visual prowess, my interests lies in how the usage of the medium has evolved over time and has been carried into a contemporary art practice.
In creating sculptural works out of fabric materials such as burlap formerly used for import/export purposes, referencing concerns on ethical trade, colonialist interactions on the natural environment, and contemporary issues concerning global civil justice.
The utilization of fiber material as a primary medium in my work is entwined with racial constructs, classicism, sexual inequality, social politics and American History for example, and all of it continues to drive and motivate my practice.”
Kaneem Smith was born in Buffalo, NY, and raised and based in Houston where she is a practicing visual artist and fine arts educator. She studied at Rice University and the Maryland Institute College of Art before receiving her Bachelor of Arts Degree from Sarah Lawrence College, and then her Master of Fine Arts Degree from Syracuse University.
Her work has been included in numerous venues such as Artpace, San Antonio; the African American Museum in Dallas; Art League Houston, Station Museum of Contemporary Art; Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ; Amarillo Museum of Art; National Art Gallery, Athens, Greece; Lima Art Museum, Peru, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Among her many accomplishments, exhibitions, awards, and residencies, Smith was the recipient of visual arts fellowships through the Edward F. Albee Foundation, the Vermont Studio Center, Atelierhaus Hilmsen Residency for Artists in Germany, the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, Artadia, and the Creative Capital Foundation in New York.
Kaneem Smith is represented by Nicole Longnecker Gallery, Houston, Texas.
STATEMENT
About her work, Ms. Smith said, "Since childhood I have long been captivated by the concept of acquiring organic, plant-based and synthetic fibers and then transforming that material for non-utilitarian use and aesthetic significance. Textile as something tactile and having its own visual prowess, my interests lies in how the usage of the medium has evolved over time and has been carried into a contemporary art practice.
In creating sculptural works out of fabric materials such as burlap formerly used for import/export purposes, referencing concerns on ethical trade, colonialist interactions on the natural environment, and contemporary issues concerning global civil justice.
The utilization of fiber material as a primary medium in my work is entwined with racial constructs, classicism, sexual inequality, social politics and American History for example, and all of it continues to drive and motivate my practice.”
EDUCATION
Syracuse University, College of Visual and Performing Arts,
Syracuse, N.Y., Master of Fine Arts Degree, 2002.
Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, N.Y.,
Bachelor of Arts Degree, 1997.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
2022
Artists in Dialogue | Inspired by “The Obama Portraits Tour” with Bisa Butler and Kaneem Smith
Museum of Fine Art Houston, Houston, Texas
2017
Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Grant Recipient, Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, New York, New York.
Houston Artadia Awardee, Artadia: The Fund for Art and Dialogue, New York, New York.
2015
Co-Organizer and Participant, Texas Sculpture Symposium, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas.
2012
Grant Finalist, Artadia: The Fund for Art and Dialogue, New York, New York.
2011
Public Art Commission Grant (City of Houston Permitting Office and Green Resource Center),
Houston Arts Alliance, Houston, Texas.
2010
Artists’ Residency Program, Arts-Netzwerk, Hilmsen Art Project, Hamburg, Germany.
2008
Visual Arts Grant, Creative Capital Foundation, New York, New York.
Residency Fellowship, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont
2007
Individual Artist Grant Fellowship, Houston Arts Alliance, Houston, Texas.
Featured Guest Host, ‘Living Art’ Radio Talk Show, KPFT 90.1 FM, Houston, Texas.
2006
Resident Installation Artist, 9th Texas Sculpture Symposium, Texas Tech University Center at Junction, Junction, Texas.
Featured Lecturer, Slide Jam! At the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston Texas.
Residency Fellowship, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont.
Juror, High Art 2006, O’Kane Gallery, University of Houston/Downtown, Houston, Texas.
Guest Curator, AAHM Art Exhibition, Center for the Arts Gallery, Cy-Fair College, Cypress, Texas.
2005
Guest Lecturer, The Artist’s Eye Series, The Menil Collection Museum, Houston, Texas.
Fellowship, Creative Capital Professional Development Workshop, Diverse Works Artspace, Houston, Texas.
2004
Artists’ Residency Program, University of Texas at Dallas/South Side, Dallas, Texas.
2003
University Faculty Fellowship, Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina.
International Residency Scholarship, The Hungarian Multicultural Center Artists & Writers Residency Program, Balatonfured, Hungary
Sculpture Prize Winner, The 20th Annual Carroll Harris Simms
National Black Art Competition and Exhibition. African American Museum, Dallas, Texas.
Commissioned Artist, Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Unsung Heroes Award. Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York.
SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022
The Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse,
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas
2021
The Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
The Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
2020
Through My Eyes, Nicole Longnecker Gallery, Houston, Texas
2019
#US TOO: Phenomenal Women, African American Museum, Dallas, Texas
She Matters, Texas A&M University College of Architecture, College Station, Texas
2017
Tensile Strength, SITE Gallery at the Silos, Houston, Texas
Friendly Fire: Houston Sculpture Month, Houston, Texas
2016
Trail of Art: Heights Boulevard Sculpture Project, Houston, Texas
2015
Disruption, Grounds for Sculpture Museum and Sculpture Park, Hamilton, New Jersey
AMOA Biennial 600: Sculpture, Amarillo Museum of Art, Amarillo, Texas
Texas Tech University Art Faculty Exhibition, Hobbs Center for the Arts, Hobbs, New Mexico
2014
2014 Annual Faculty Exhibit, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
Luck of the Draw, Diverse Works Artspace, Houston, Texas
2013
Western Sequel, Texas Art from the Lone Star State, TC Mimar Sinan University, Instanbul, Turkey
ARTZNETWERK 2012 Artists-in-Residence Exhibition, Mönchskirche Museum, Salwedel, Germany
Triple Treat, Unit B Gallery, San Antonio, Texas
2012
Homes and Histories, Voices Breaking Boundaries Living Room Art Production, Houston Texas
Western Sequels, Texas Art from the Lone Star, National Painting School Art Gallery, Athens, Greece
Table Top, Devin Borden Gallery, Houston, Texas
2011
FOURTEEN, Art Car Museum, Houston, Texas
Every Day Use: The Origins of African American Quilt Making,
The African American Library at the Gregory School, Houston, Texas
2010
Eco-Logic: Environmental Art Exhibit, The Community Artists’ Collective Gallery, Houston, Texas
Ni Una Mas: The Juarez Murders, Leonard Pearlstein Gallery at Drexel University, Philadephia, Pennsylvania
2009
The Great Texas Sculpture Roundup, Beeville Art Museum, Beeville, Texas
Gift of the Spirit, Art League Houston, Houston, Texas
HCC Faculty Art Exhibition, U of Clear Lake, Houston, TX
2008
Houston Collects: African American Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, Texas
2007
Amistad: Texas Art in Peru, Lima Art Museum, Lima, Peru
Amistad, Modern Art Museum, Trujillo, Trujillo, Peru
Camp Marfa 2007, Chinati Open House Weekend, Old Fort Russell Building 98, Marfa, Texas
Camp Marfa, The Art Depot, Lubbock, Texas
Group Show, Rudolph Projects/Artscan Gallery, Houston, Texas
2006
Frontera 450+, Station Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston, Texas
Sculpture Now: in the Houston Area, Williams Tower Gallery, Houston, Texas
SELECT SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2018
Kaneem Smith: Captive Sojourn and the Indefinite, Galveston Arts Center, Galveston Texas
2014
Substrate: Sculpture and Monoprints by Kaneem Smith, Devin Borden Gallery, Houston, Texas
2012
THEBAI – A Chapel for Saint Maurice, Mönchskirche Museum, Salwedel, Germany
Fruition: New Work by Kaneem Smith, Devin Borden Gallery, Houston, Texas
2010
Out of Tribulation: Works by Kaneem Smith, University Museum, Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas
2007
Forsaken Eulogies: Indifference, Houston Arts Alliance Public Art Fellowship Project, Houston, Texas
Kaneem Smith, Devin Borden Hiram Butler Gallery, Houston, Texas
Ethereality: Intaglio & Collographs, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, Texas
2006
Kaneem Smith, Rudolph Projects/Artscan Gallery, Houston, Texas.
2005
Installation: Contentment in Misinterpretation, Project Row Houses, Houston, Texas
2004
Kaneem Smith: New Work, Brookhaven College School of the Arts, Dallas, Texas
2003
Nadezda Prvulovic and Kaneem Smith, The Gallery at UTA, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas
2002
Mix! Series: sculpture by Kaneem Smith, The Dallas Center of Contemporary Art, Dallas Texas