Rodney Smith: A Leap of Faith

Anne Loucks Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of a new exhibition, Rodney Smith: A Leap of Faith. The show will open September 29th and run through November 30, 2023. Included in the exhibition will be twenty-five exceptional examples of the artist’s work from 1992-2015. The show also celebrates the recent release of the Getty Museums’ retrospective monograph, Rodney Smith: A Leap of Faith. 

The book’s author, Getty photography curator Paul Martineau, will be present at the opening reception at the gallery, Friday September 29th from 5 – 7:30 pm.

Rodney Smith (1947-2016) was a prominent photographer whose whimsical work invited comparison to that of surrealist painter Rene Magritte. Long acclaimed for his iconic images that combine portraiture and landscape, Smith created enchanted worlds full of subtle contradictions and surprises. Using only film and light, his un-retouched, dream-like images are matched in quality by the craft and physical beauty of his prints. Throughout his four-decade career as an artist, he cared deeply about sharing his vision of the world with humor,grace, and optimism. “I want people to see the beauty and whimsy in life, not its ugliness. I feel the need to reach out for its soul, its depth, and its underlying beauty. I represent a world that is possible if people act their best,” he wrote.

Born and raised in New York City, Smith was inspired by trips to the photography collection at the Museum of Modern Art. After receiving his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia in 1970, he studied photography under Walker Evans at Yale University while receiving a masters in theology. While he rose to prominence as a fashion photographer in the 90s, his work clearly transcended from fashion photography into fine art during this time. Today, Rodney Smith’s photographs are included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Art in Boston, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Getty Museum, among others.

The Rodney Smith: A Leap of Faith exhibition includes a selection of black and white and color images spanning the artist’s extraordinary career. Set against a backdrop of beautiful cities, gardens, and landscapes, each composition reflects his response to the world around him and his attempt to offer beauty, wit and whimsey to a world sometimes filled with chaos. From Reed Leaping over a Giant Top Hat to Saori on an Airplane Wing and Reed Reading Upside Down, each image in the exhibition combines brilliant composition, gorgeous color, and magical light with Rodney’s distinctive style of grace, substance and humor.

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For additional images or information, please contact Anne Loucks at 847-835-8500 or anne@loucksgallery.com.

Anne Loucks Gallery specializes in contemporary American painting, photography and works on paper. Celebrating its 23rd year, the gallery is located on the Northshore of Chicago at 309 Park Avenue in Glencoe, IL. 

Hours are 10:30am – 5pm Tuesday – Saturday or by appointment.