Garth Greenan Gallery is pleased to announce Alexis Smith, an exhibition of collages at 529 West 20th Street. Opening on Thursday, October 22, 2015, the exhibition is the first presentation of Smith's work in a New York gallery in over a decade. Twelve of the artist's meticulously crafted mixed-media collages will be on view, most of which have never before been exhibited. A fully illustrated catalogue will accompany the exhibition, with an essay by Anna Stothart.

The exhibition and its accompanying publication provide an overview of Smith's work from 1994 to 2015. 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, the artist examines and remakes what can be seen as America's soul. Smith is one of the natural heiresses to the spirit of Dada and Pop and the art of assemblagists such as Joseph Cornell.

In many of her works, the city of Los Angeles appears as part of the subject. Smith exploits the universal allure and fascination around Hollywood as a place where dreams are made, where imagination, hope, and illusion are realized. According to the artist, this is an extension of the story of the West, that a move west equals a better life. It is the quintessential American transformation myth, the American Dream.

Born in Los Angeles in 1949, Alexis Smith studied painting at the University of California, Irvine. Throughout her career, Smith has 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), and Honor Fraser Gallery (2013, Los Angeles).

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), and Made in California: Art, Image, and Identity (2000, Los Angeles County Museum of Art).

Most recently, Smith's work appeared in: Los Angeles: Birth of an Art Capital (Centre Georges Pompidou, 2006) and WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution (2007, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles).

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.

Garth Greenan Gallery is pleased to represent Alexis Smith.

Alexis Smith will be on view at Garth Greenan Gallery, 529 West 20th Street (between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues), through Saturday, December 5, 2015. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. For more information, please contact Garth Greenan at (212) 929-1351, or email garth@garthgreenan.com.