The Art and Design of Howard Smith at The Palm Springs Art Museum
The exhibition was curated by Steven Wolf
Howard Smith (1928-2021) was born on the East Coast of the United States, but is mostly known for his work in Finland. He worked in pretty much every medium in both fine art and design for production. He had over 40 solo exhibitions during his life, mostly in Finland. This is his first retrospective in the United States.
My first exposure to him was from friend and legendary design dealer, Ken Erwin. Howard and Ken met in in the 1980s at a Art Deco shop on Melrose called Jazz. Ken said, at the time, it was rare to see another Black person in a design shop. They became instant and lifelong friends.
After serving in the US Army, with time in Japan, Korea and West Germany, he moved to Philadelphia in 1958 to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. The he moved to Helsinki in 1962 to participate in a United States government sponsored festival called Young America Presents. There was an exhibition of modern art, architecture and jazz concerts. Unbeknownst to Howard, it was a CIA operation to counter a Soviet sponsored event that was happening the same time. Howard was offered a job by an ad executive who also helped Smith with an exhibition of his art. He had a successful career there but returned America after 14 years because, as he put it himself, "I was beginning to run down. I needed the spiritual input of being around black people. So, in the mid-1970's Smith returned to Los Angeles to explore opportunities in the US. He lived in LaVerne, and according to Ken, he was renting a great modern house there. He was part of the artist community in Claremont.
In 1974 Smith was part of "Ten Black American Artists" held at Santa Ana College. An article announcing the exhibition said he was from Helsinki and would be exhibiting prints and wall hangings. John Outterbridge was also in the exhibition.
In 1975 he had a solo exhibition of prints and fabrics at Scripps College.
