![Just Plain Folks, 1980, Mixed media](https://img.artlogic.net/w_1320,h_1320,c_limit/exhibit-e/57ab21f484184ea8138b4568/059fcad7deefecef0a1eafd8cb75e596.jpeg)
Just Plain Folks, 1980
Mixed media
14 x 10 5/8 inches
Born in Los Angeles in 1949, Alexis Smith studied painting at the University of California, Irvine. Throughout her career, Smith exhibited extensively. Notable solo-exhibitions include: Riko Mizuno (1974, Los Angeles), Whitney Museum of American Art (1975, 1991, New York), Nicholas Wilder Gallery (1977, Los Angeles), Holly Solomon Gallery (1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1983, New York), Rosamund Felsen Gallery (1978, 1980, 1982, Los Angeles), Margo Leavin Gallery (1985, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2009, Los Angeles), Walker Art Center (1986, Minneapolis), Wexner Center for the Arts (1997, Columbus, Ohio), Greenberg Van Doren Gallery (2001, 2004, New York), Honor Fraser Gallery (2013, Los Angeles), and Museum of Contemporary Art Sand Diego (2002, San Diego).
Smith is recognized for her meticulously crafted mixed-media collages. Combining images, objects, and texts rescued from the detritus of popular culture—pulp novels of the 1940s and 1950s, postcards, road maps, movie stills, and advertising art—into witty, often sardonic statements, Smith examines and reconfigures American identity. In much of her work, the city of Los Angeles is a favored subject. Smith exploits the universal allure and fascination around Hollywood as the quintessential American transformational myth; the American Dream to ‘make it big.’ For her colorful mixed-media combinations and juxtapositions, Alexis Smith was a natural heiress to the spirit of Dada and Pop and the art of assemblagists such as Joseph Cornell.
Recently, Smith’s work appeared in: Los Angeles: Birth of an Art Capital (Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 2006), WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution (2007, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles), and Alexis Smith: The American Way, a full-career retrospective (2022, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego). Her work has also been featured in many landmark museum exhibitions, such as: American Narrative: 1967–1977 (1977, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston), Making Their Mark: Women Artists Move Into the Mainstream, 1970–1985 (1989, Cincinnati Art Museum), Image World: Art and Media Culture (1989, Whitney Museum of American Art), Sunshine & Noir: Art in L.A., 1960–1997 (1997, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark), and Made in California: Art, Image, and Identity (2000, Los Angeles County Museum of Art).
Smith’s work is featured in the collections of major museums around the country, including: the Hammer Museum, University of California, Los Angeles; the High Museum of Art, Atlanta; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Museum of Modern Art; the Walker Art Center; and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
1949
Born: Los Angeles, California
2024
Died: Los Angeles, California
EDUCATION
1966–1970
University of California, Irvine
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1974
Alexis Smith, Riko Mizuno Gallery, Los Angeles
1975
Anteroom, Carp, Los Angeles, August 12–23
Alexis Smith, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 15–December 14
1975–1976
Classics Illustrated, Long Beach Museum of Art, California, December 6, 1975–January 4, 1976
1976
Star Material, Mandeville Art Gallery, University of California, San Diego
Scheherazade the Storyteller, Carp, Los Angeles, August 23–27
1977
Tales of Mystery and Enchantment, Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles
Alexis Smith, Holly Solomon Gallery, New York, June
1978
April Foole, Holly Solomon Gallery, New York, April 1–19
The Magic Mountain, Rosamund Felsen Gallery, Los Angeles, October 28–November 30
1979
The Magic Mountain, Holly Solomon Gallery, New York, April 21–May 12
Autumn Sonata, Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, November–December
1980
Raymond Chandler’s L.A., Rosamund Felsen Gallery, Los Angeles, April 19–May 17
1981
Alexis Smith, Holly Solomon Gallery, New York, January 5–24
1982
Chinese Junk, P.S. 1, Institute for Art and Urban Resources, Queens, New York, April 2–May 1
Satan’s Satellites, Rosamund Felsen Gallery, Los Angeles, September 25–October 23
1983
Christmas Eve, 1943, Holly Solomon Gallery, New York, March 23–April 13
1985
Jane, Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, September 7–October 12
1986
Viewpoints: Alexis Smith, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, February 2–March 16
1987–1988
Same Old Paradise, Brooklyn Museum, October 10, 1987–January 11, 1988
1988
On the Road, Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, March 26–April 23
1989
Past Lives, Santa Monica Museum of Art, California, November 2–December 31
1990
Eldorado, Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, March 17–April 14
Past Lives, Josh Baer Gallery, New York, December
1991
Alexis Smith: Public Works, Mandeville Gallery, University of California, San Diego, January 12–February 24
1991–1992
Alexis Smith, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 21, 1991–March 1, 1992; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, March 29–July 5, 1992
1993
Alexis Smith, Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, March 10–April 17
1994
The Wonder Years: 1973–1983, Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, January 8–February 12
1995
The Farmer’s Daughter, Gerald Peters Gallery, Dallas, January 5–February 18
Cherished Notions, Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, May 25–June 30
1997–1998
My Favorite Sport, Wexner Center for the Arts, Ohio State University, Columbus, September 18, 1997–January 4, 1998
A Matter of Taste, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, December 16, 1997–April 12, 1998
1999
Words to Live By, Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, October 16–November 13
2000
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Miami Art Museum, April 28–July 9
2001–2002
An Embarrassment of Riches, Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, New York, October 13, 2001–January 15, 2002
2002
Local Color, David Floria Gallery, Aspen, Colorado, July 27–August 25
2003
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Past Lives, University of Wyoming Art Museum, Laramie, September 20–November 22
2003–2004
Living Dangerously, Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, November 22, 2003–January 3, 2004
2004
Lust/Rust/Dust, Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, New York, March 25–April 24
2009
Imitation of Life, Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, April 25–May 23
2011
Alexis Smith: Early Works, Thomas Solomon Gallery, Los Angeles, September 10–October 22
2013
Alexis Smith: Second Nature, Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica, California, April 20–May 25
Slice of Life, Honor Fraser Gallery, Los Angeles, June 8–July 27
2015
Alexis Smith: Chandlerisms, Athenaeum Music and Arts Library, La Jolla, California, June 20–July 25
Alexis Smith, Garth Greenan Gallery, New York, October 22—December 5
2017
Alexis Smith: On Point, Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica, California, April 15–May 20
2018
Alexis Smith, Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University, Malibu, January 20–April 1
Alexis Smith: Hello Hollywood, Garth Greenan Gallery, New York, May 24–June 30
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1972
Greater Magic: Munger, Smith, Titus, Art Gallery, University of California, Irvine, March 5–April 1
Southern California: Attitudes, 1972, Pasadena Art Museum, California, September 19–November 5
1975
1975 Biennial Exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, January 20–April 9
Both Kinds: Contemporary Art from Los Angeles, University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley, April 1–May 18
Work, Image, Number, Sarah Lawrence College Gallery, Bronxville, New York, September 23–October 19
Visual/Verbal, Art Gallery, University of California, Santa Barbara, September 30–October 26
1976
AutobiographiCalifornial Fantasies, Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, January 13–February 20
1976–1977
Southland Video Anthology: Part I, Long Beach Museum of Art, California, October 23, 1976–January 9, 1977
1977–1979
American Narrative: 1967–1977, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, December 17, 1977–February, 25, 1978; Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, March 25–May 21, 1978; Winnipeg Art Gallery, Manitoba, Canada, June 15–August 13, 1978; University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley, September 16–November 10, 1978; Art Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara, December 15, 1978–February 12, 1979
1978
Narration, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, April 18–June 18
1979
1979 Biennial Exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, February 6–April 1
The Decade in Review: Selections from the 1970s, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 19–September 2
Paper on Paper, San Francisco Museum of Art, June 29–August 12
Words and Images, Philadelphia College of Art, September 15–October 12
1980
Drawings, Leo Castelli Gallery, New York, November 29–December 13
1981
1981 Biennial Exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, January 20–April 12
Poetic Visions, Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, January 24–February 22
Words as Images, Renaissance Society, University of Chicago, February 4–28
Humor in Art, Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, June 27–August 15
Art in Los Angeles: The Museum as Site, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, July 21–October 4
1982
The Americans: The Collage, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, July 11–October 3
1983
Directions: 1983, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC, March 10–May 15
The Comic Art Show: Cartoons in Painting and Popular Culture, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 18–August 26
Inaugural Exhibition, Holly Solomon Gallery, New York, September 20–October 29
1984
Crime and Punishment: Reflections of Violence in Contemporary Art, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, California, February 11–April 1
An International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture, Museum of Modern Art, New York, May 17–August 19
Selections from the Merry and Bill Norris Collection, Fine Arts Gallery, University of California, Irvine, October 11–November 3
1985
Selections from the William J. Hokin Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, April 20–June 16
1986–1987
Remembrances of Things Past, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, California, November 13, 1986–January 18, 1987
Text and Image: The Wording of American Art, Holly Solomon Gallery, New York, December 11, 1986–January 3, 1987
1986–1988
Individuals: A Selected History of Contemporary Art, 1945–1986, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, December 10, 1986–January 10, 1988
1987
Avant-Garde in the Eighties, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, April 23–July 12
1987–1989
Contemporary American Collage: 1960–1985, Herter Art Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, November 9–December 11, 1987; William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, January 24–March 6, 1988; Art Gallery, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, March 27–May 8, 1988; Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio, September 11–October 23, 1988; Stedman Art Gallery, Rutgers, State University of New Jersey, Camden, November 14–December 24, 1988; Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, January 24–March 6, 1989; Art Gallery, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, March 27–May 8, 1989
1988
Striking Distance, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, March 22–June 19; Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, California, July 16–August 28; Fresno Arts Center and Museum, California, July 16–August 28; University Art Gallery, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, California, November 17–December 16
1989
Making Their Mark: Women Artists Move into the Mainstream, 1970–1985, Cincinnati Art Museum, February 24–April 2; New Orleans Museum of Art, May 6–June 18; Denver Art Museum, July 22–September 10; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, October 21–December 31
A Brave New World, Karsten Schubert Gallery, London, March 14–April 15
Art in the Public Eye: Selected Developments, Security Pacific Gallery, Costa Mesa, California, June 13–August 19
1989–1990
Image World: Art and Media Culture, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 8, 1989–February 18, 1990
1991
Framed, Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, April 4–May 4
1992
A Complete Hand of One Suit, Art Gallery, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, January 11–February 5
L.A. Stories, Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles, February 3–29
Western Myth: Twentieth Century Update, Aspen Art Museum, February 11–April 11
1994
Drawings, Gerald Peters Gallery, Dallas, June 16–April 3
1994–1995
The Art Cup, Garth Clark Gallery, Los Angeles, December 3, 1994–January 4, 1995
1995
Untitled (Reading Room), Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, July 8–August 19
Commercial Art, Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, October 4–November 11
1996
Landfall Press: Twenty-Five Years of Printmaking, Milwaukee Art Museum, September 13–November 10
1997–1999
Sunshine & Noir: Art in L.A., 1960–1997, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark, May 16–September 7, 1997; Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany, October 31, 1997–January 18, 1998; Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Turin, Italy, May 15–August 23, 1998; Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center, University of California, Los Angeles, October 7, 1998–January 3, 1999
1999
The Eclectic Eye: Selections from the Frederick R. Weisman Foundation, California Center for the Arts, Escondido, January 15–May 2
2000
Library, Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, July 26–August 26
2000–2001
Made in California: Art, Image, and Identity, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, October 22, 2000–March 18, 2001
2001
Seeing or Believing, Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, June 9–July 28
Recasting the Past: Beneath the Hollywood Tinsel, Art Gallery, California State University, Fullerton, September 8–October 11
2002
Visions from America: Photographs from the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1940–2001, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 27–September 22
2002–2003
Some Assembly Required: Collage Culture in Post-War America, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York, September 28, 2002–January 26, 2003; Madison Art Center, Wisconsin, June 8–August 17, 2003; Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, Florida, August 20–October 26, 2003
2003
Raid the Icebox, Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, March 22–April 26
2004–2005
100 Artists See God, Jewish Museum, San Francisco, March 3–June 27, 2004; Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California, July 31–October 3, 2004; Contemporary Art Center of Virginia, Virginia Beach, June 9–September 4, 2005
2006
Los Angeles, 1955–1985: Birth of an Art Capital, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, March 8–July 17
2007–2009
WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, March 4–July 16, 2007; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC, September 21–December 16, 2007; P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, Queens, New York, February 17–May 12, 2008; Vancouver Art Gallery, October 4, 2008–January 18, 2009
2008
Southern Exposure: Works from the Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, March 20–June 1
2009
Reading Standing Up, Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, January 31–March 14
2010
Works in Edition, Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, April 17–May 15
S, M, L, Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, New York, October 28–December 23
2011–2012
Under the Big Black Sun: California Art, 1974–1981, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, October 1, 2011–February 13, 2012
2012
Arctic Summer, Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, July 31–September 29
2014–2015
The Avant-Garde Collection, Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, California, September 7, 2014–January 4, 2015
2015
Drawing in L.A.: The 1960s and 70s, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, May 10–August 2
A Performative Trigger: Radicals of Irvine, University Art Gallery at University of California Irvine’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts, October 3–December 12
2016
CALIFORNIA 101: Art from the Collection, Art, Design & Architecture Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara, January 22–May 1
Physical: Sex and the Body in the 1980s, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, March 16–July 13
Holdings: Selections from MCASD's Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, June 4–September 4
A Retrospective Space: UC San Diego's University Art Gallery, California, October 17–December 16
2016–2017
Collected, Pier 24, San Francisco, May 2, 2016–January 31, 2017
Los Angeles - A Fiction, Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo, Norway, September 22, 2016-Janaury 22, 2017
2017
Forms of Identity: Women Artists in the 90s, Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, California, January 7–April 2
Chapters: Book Arts in Southern California, Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles, January 29–May 7
Living Apart Together: Recent Acquisitions from the Hammer Contemporary Collection, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, May 20–August 13
2017–2018
An Incomplete History of Protest: Selections from the Whitney's Collection, 1940–2017, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, August 18, 2017–August 27, 2018
2018
This Brush for Hire: Norm Laich and Many Other Artists, Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, June 3–September 2
2018–2019
Hidden Narratives: Recent Acquisitions of Postwar Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, February 17, 2018–January 6, 2019
2019
Expressions of Vandalism: Asger Jorn's Modifications Paintings and their Legacy, Petzel, New York, March 5–April 13
Open House: Elliott Hundley, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, April 14–September 16
Selected Works from the Collection of Holly Solomon, 1968–1981, Marlborough Contemporary, London, May 29–June 29
NOMEN: American Women Artists from 1945 to Today, Phillips, New York, June 19–August 3
Tomes: An Exhibition of Artist Books, Alyce de Roulet Williamson Gallery, ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena, California, July 18–December 15
2020–2021
Don’t let this be easy, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, July 30, 2020–July 4, 2021
2023–2024
Tell Me What You Want, Bel Ami Gallery, Los Angeles, California, Dec 16, 2023–Feb 10, 2024
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Hammer Museum, University of California, Los Angeles
High Museum of Art, Atlanta
Honolulu Museum of Art
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego
Museum of Modern Art, New York
San Diego Museum of Art
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, California
Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Massachusetts
Stuart Collection, University of California, San Diego
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS AND CATALOGUES
Armstrong, Richard. Alexis Smith. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1991.
Aspen Art Museum. Western Myth: Twentieth Century Update. Aspen, CO: Aspen Art Museum, 1993.
Baldessari, John, Meg Cranston, and Thomas McEvilley. 100 Artists See God. New York: Independent Curators International, 2004.
Barron, Stephanie. Art in Los Angeles: The Museum as Site. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1981.
Barron, Stephanie, Sheri Bernstein, and Ilene Susan Fort. Made in California: Art, Image, and Identity. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2000.
Burgess Fuller, Diana, and Daniela Salvioni, eds. Art/Women/California: Parallels and Intersections, 1950–2000. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002.
Butler, Cornelia H., and Lisa Gabrielle Mark. WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution. Los Angeles: Museum of Contemporary Art, 2007.
Cameron, Dan. The Avant-Garde Collection. Newport Beach, CA: Orange County Museum of Art, 2014.
Cathcart, Linda L. The Americans: The Collage. Houston: Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, 1982.
Fine Arts Gallery, University of California, Irvine. Selections from the Merry and Bill Norris Collection. Irvine: University of California, 1984.
Fox, Howard N. Avant-Garde in the Eighties. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1987.
Goldsmith, Constance. Paper on Paper. San Francisco: San Francisco Museum of Art, 1979.
Goldstein, Ann. Striking Distance. Los Angeles: Museum of Contemporary Art, 1988.
Grenier, Catherine. Los Angeles, 1955–1985: Birth of an Art Capital. Paris: Centre Georges Pompidou, 2006.
Haskell, Barbara. Southern California: Attitudes, 1972. Pasadena, CA: Pasadena Art Museum, 1972.
Heiferman, Marvin, and Lisa Phillips. Image World: Art and Media Culture. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1989.
Herter Art Gallery. Contemporary American Collage, 1960–1986. Amherst: University of Massachusetts, 1987.
Hertz, Richard. Theories of Contemporary Art. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1985.
Holly Solomon Gallery. Inaugural Exhibition. New York: Holly Solomon Gallery, 1983.
Inside the Getty: Second Edition. Los Angeles: Getty Publications, 2019.
Isenberg, Barbara. State of the Arts: California Artists Talk About Their Work. New York: Harper Collins, 2000.
Karsten Schubert Gallery. A Brave New World. London: Karsten Schubert Gallery, 1989.
Kurcfeld, Michael. Humor in Art. Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, 1981.
Leja, Michael. Narration. Boston: Institute of Contemporary Art, 1978.
Linker, Kate, and Howard Singerman. Individuals: A Selected History of Contemporary Art, 1945–1986. Los Angeles: Museum of Contemporary Art, 1986.
Margo Leavin Gallery. Jane. Los Angeles: Margo Leavin Gallery, 1985.
Marincola, Paula. Words and Images. Philadelphia: Philadelphia College of Art, 1979.
Mark, Lisa Gabrielle, and Paul Schimmel. Under the Big Black Sun: California Art, 1974–1981. Los Angeles: Museum of Contemporary Art, 2011.
McShine, Kynaston. An International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1984.
Milwaukee Art Museum. Landfall Press: Twenty-Five Years of Printmaking. Milwaukee: Milwaukee Art Museum, 1996.
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Selections from the William J. Hokin Collection. Chicago: Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, 1985.
Nittve, Lars, and Helle Crenzien. Sunshine & Noir: Art in L.A., 1960–1997. Humlebaek, Denmark: Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2001.
Ohrt, Roberto and Axel Heil, eds. Strategic Vandalism: The Legacy of Asger Jonh’s Modification Paintings. New York: Petzel, 2019.
Otis Art Institute. Poetic Visions. Los Angeles: Otis Art Institute, 1981.
Piché, Thomas Jr., and Mark Alice Durant. Some Assembly Required: Collage Culture in Post-War America. Syracuse: Everson Museum of Art, 2002.
Plagens, Peter. Both Kinds: Contemporary Art from Los Angeles. Berkeley: University of California, 1975.
Plous, Phyllis, and Steven Cortright. Visual/Verbal. Santa Barbara: University of California, 1975.
Relyea, Lane, and Constance Fitzsimons. Remembrances of Things Past. Long Beach, CA: Long Beach Museum of Art, 1986.
Renaissance Society. Words as Images. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1981.
Rosen, Randy, and Catherine Coleman Brawer. Making Their Mark: Women Artists Move into the Mainstream, 1970–1985. New York: Abbeville Press, 1989.
Rosenzweig, Phyllis D. Directions: 1983. Washington, DC: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, 1983.
Ross, David A. Southland Video Anthology. Long Beach, CA: Long Beach Museum of Art, 1976.
Schimmel, Paul. American Narrative: 1967–1977. Houston: Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, 1977.
Security Pacific Gallery. Art in the Public Eye: Selected Developments. Costa Mesa, CA: Security Pacific Gallery, 1989.
Sims, Patterson. The Decade in Review: Selections from the 1970s. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1979.
Starr, Kevin. Coast of Dreams: California on the Edge, 1990–2003. New York: Knopf, 2004.
Triton Museum of Art. Crime and Punishment: Reflections of Violence in Contemporary Art. Santa Clara, CA: Triton Museum of Art, 1984.
Whitney Museum of American Art. 1979 Biennial Exhibition. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1979.
———. 1981 Biennial Exhibition. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1981.
PERIODICALS
“Alexis Smith.” New Yorker 91, no 39 (2015): 11.
Ashbery, John. “Biennials Bloom in the Spring.” Newsweek 101, no. 16 (1983): 93–94.
Berardini, Andrew. “Alexis Smith at Parrasch Heijnen Gallery.” Artforum 58, no. 6 (2020): 205.
Berman, Avis. “A Decade of Progress: Could a Female Chardin Make a Living?” Art News 79, no. 8 (1980): 73–79.
Bonansinga, Kate. “SITE Santa Fe, ‘Beau Monde: Toward a Redeemed Cosmopolitanism.’” Sculpture 21, no. 1 (2002): 64–65.
Bonetti, David. “Where Elite and Popular Meet.” San Francisco Examiner, October 27, 1995.
Burkhart, Dorothy. “Alexis Smith: A Literary Sensibility.” Artweek 7, no. 19 (1976): 1, 20.
Casademont, Joan. “Alexis Smith, Holly Solomon Gallery.” Artforum 19, no. 8 (1981): 65–66.
Cohen, Rachel. “It Only Happens Once.” Modern Painters 16, no. 1 (2003): 26–29.
Diehl, Carol. “Birds, Beads, and Bannerstones.” Art News 95, no. 7 (1996): 76–77.
Drohojowska, Hunter. “Alexis Smith: R Tist.” Artforum 26, no. 2 (1987): 86–90.
———. “Reviews: Los Angeles: Alexis Smith, Margo Leavin.” Art News 84, no. 9 (1985): 127.
———. “SITE Santa Fe, ‘Beau Monde: Toward a Redeemed Cosmopolitanism.’” Artforum 40, no. 2 (2001): 153–154.
———. “The Public Art of Alexis Smith.” Artspace 16, no. 3 (1991): 60–66.
Duncan, Michael. “Live from the Getty.” Art in America 86, no. 5 (1998): 98–101.
———. “Mosaics, Memories, and Merchandise.” Art in America 89, no. 11 (2001): 130–135.
Filler, Martin. “Inventing Alexis Smith.” House & Garden 163, no. 12 (1991): 86–87.
———. “Puttin’ on the Ritz.” House & Garden 156, no. 6 (1984): 213.
———. “When a Long Eclipse Yields to Light.” New York Times, April 15, 2001.
Freudenheim, Susan. “Landscape Painting.” Arts & Architecture 1, no. 4 (1983): 21–26.
Gardner, Colin. “Reviews: Los Angeles: Alexis Smith, Margo Leavin Gallery.” Artforum 24, no. 3 (1985): 113–14.
Garris, Laurie. “The MacArthur Park Program.” Arts & Architecture 4, no. 2 (1985): 16–17.
Gerlis, Melissa. “Why Size Matters at Arts Fairs.” Financial Times, November 28, 2019.
Gerstler, Amy. “Alexis Smith: Detonated Clichés.” Visions Art Quarterly 3, no. 1 (1988): 15.
Gilson, Nancy. “Objets de Buckeye.” Columbus Dispatch, September 11, 1997.
Glueck, Grace. “Alexis Smith.” New York Times, April 6, 2001.
———. “Two Biennials: One Looking East and the Other Looking West.” New York Times, March 27, 1983.
Greenstein, Jane. “Monuments to the Art of Losing.” Los Angeles Times, December 10, 1985.
Harren, Natilee. “Reviews: Los Angeles: Alexis Smith, Honor Fraser Gallery.” Artforum 52, no. 3 (2013): 295.
Jarmusch, Ann. “An Artist for the People.” San Diego Tribune, January 14, 1991.
Johnson, Ken. “Alexis Smith.” New York Times, April 16, 2004.
———. “Alexis Smith at Josh Baer.” Art in America 79, no. 3 (1991): 133.
Joselit, David. “Lessons in Public Sculpture.” Art in America 77, no. 12 (1989): 130–135.
———. “Public Art and the Public Purse.” Art in America 78, no. 7 (1990): 143–150.
Kimmelman, Michael. “Flotsam, Jetsam, and Quotes in Collages by Alexis Smith.” New York Times, November 29, 1991.
Klein, Jennie. “It’s a Beautiful Morning.” New Art Examiner 29, no. 2 (2001): 74–81.
Knight, Christopher. “A Changing Picture.” Los Angeles Times, October 7, 1998.
———. “A Meeting of Media.” Los Angeles Herald Examiner, November 22, 1981.
———. “A Wide Array of Sites to Behold.” Los Angeles Times, October 31, 2001.
———. “Diverse Forces Remake the Seen.” Los Angeles Times, December 26, 1999.
———. “L.A.’s Art Direction: Five Painters Help Shape the City’s New Cultural Image.” Gentleman’s Quarterly 53, no. 8 (1983): 136–38.
———. "MOCA on the rebound? Three strong shows and free entry are welcome signs of change.” Los Angeles Times, June 12, 2019.
———. “Paradise Found in New York Museums: New Mural, Exhibits View American Myth.” Los Angeles Herald Examiner, November 15, 1987.
———. “Reviews: Los Angeles: Art on the Move.” Art News 82, no. 1 (1983): 72–75.
———. "Review: The arc of Alexis Smith’s career in just 11 works. A smart L.A. show to see now." Los Angeles Times, November 12, 2019.
———. “Season-Opening Shows May Presage Great Art Year.” Los Angeles Herald Examiner, October 6, 1985.
———. “Sight Seeing at the County Museum.” Los Angeles Herald Examiner, July 26, 1981.
———. “Under the Big Black Sun at MOCA.” Los Angeles Times, October 14, 2011.
———. “Unveiling the State of L.A.’s Art.” Los Angeles Herald Examiner, September 21, 1986.
———. "Review: The Arc of Alexis Smith’s Career in Just 11 Works. A Smart L.A. Show to See Now” Los Angeles Times, November 12, 2019.
Kozloff, Max. “Reviews: Sunshine & Noir: Art in L.A., 1960–1997.” Artforum 36, no. 3 (1997): 110–111.
Kutner, Janet. “Satire on the Superficial: A Glimpse of Alexis Smith’s Provocative Art.” Dallas Morning News, February 9, 1995.
Levy, Mark. “World Chronicle: Freezing Freud and Other Nasty Games.” Art International 13 (1990): 65–68.
Liss, Andrea. “History Re-Conceptualized.” Artweek 18, no. 1 (1987): 5–6.
Marmer, Nancy. “Alexis Smith: The Narrative Act.” Artforum 15, no. 4 (1976): 31–33.
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