David Smithson
	1974-77 -- School of Architecture, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 1882-84 -- Robert I. Russin Sculpture Fellowship 1984 -- Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Wyoming, Laramie 1984-02 -- Lives and works in Pietrasanta, Italy 1990-93 -- Lived and worked in Arnhem, The Netherlands 1991-00 -- Guest lecturer at the Royal Dutch Academies in: Den Bosch, Arnhem, Rotterdam 1994-02 -- Lives and works in Cologne, Germany 1997 and 1999 -- European Ceramics Work Center, Work period/stipend, September-December, Den Bosch, The Netherlands

"He is a sculptor, a master of the self-contained form; Carrara marble and bronze casting, created in the tuscan Pietrsanta in Italy, are his materials, solid, clearly outlined sculptures, whose strict surfaces he has ironically disengaged with hieroglyphs of fictitious electronic circuits - pedestals, columns, odd hooks, severe and peculiar forms, and gracefully accomplished, somewhat asian bowls. At the same time he is a master - recalling the origins of Dutch Delftware - of ceramic creations, tiles and porcelain.

And photography? A totally different dimension, which he acquired during his trips away from Cologne.  Yet he doesn´t consider himself a photographer, because his creations in the two-dimensional realm are very peculiar imaginations. To begin with, they demand questioning. One sees cut-outs of colorful situations, which are connected in an unusual way. And what are these dark strokes?

Well, the scenes that he offers are parts of photographic realities. They originate from small format slides, dissected and reassembled with others, united in new and brilliant images and then brought to paper. Again, what are these dark stripes? They are the enlarged staples of a paper stapler, honest unions, without computer enhancement so to speak. And exactly these strokes make up the thrill of these rich images. They are the creative accent of new icons.

David Smithson, sculpting in a variety of materials, has developed a special niche in artistic expression for himself, that is, photo-collages of a very personal nature, unique, irritating and at the same time fascinating “color-conversations”, with superbly manipulated aspects of existence, bonded into new super-realities, that convince the observor. The multitude of variations is new proof of Davd Smithson´s inventive spirit. Photographs and yet not photographs at all, simply, novel works of art."

Prof. L. Fritz Gruber