Chris Smith

We are getting the band back together! Join Francis Christie, Mark Richards and Chris Smith as we celebrate 15 years of making art together. The G-Spot originally launched as a pop-up shop on Green Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and quickly became a hub for creativity and community. We showcased monthly art exhibitions and stocked merchandise crafted by local artists, celebrating the vibrant spirit of the neighborhood. Drawing inspiration from the iconic G train logo, we developed a product line that paid homage to classic punk rock album covers, vinyl siding, and notable Greenpoint landmarks.

This series is a testament to my profound love for live music. I've been going out and drawing live music in small local venues in Brooklyn like Troost and Pete's Candy Store for many years. I carry small handmade sketchbooks in my back pocket and make loose ink drawings, mostly in the dark, so I really don't see the drawing until later. I then take those small drawings and use them as starting points for larger paintings on wood panels, canvas and paper. Before painting the subject, I start out by underpainting the surface, using a mix of materials including spray paint, paint marker, ink and acrylic. I like to use found objects, such as the plastic grills from cars and box fans as stencils to create patterned textures. Artists in Action is a series inspired by my experiences working on murals at the Welling Court Mural project and other public art events in New York. The original photos capture street artists immersed in the creative process, many of whom are friends. In my artistic approach, I carefully edit the photos to eliminate distractions, focusing solely on the artists' expressive gestures. The streetshadows series is based on photos of the shadows cast by the street signs, light posts and traffic lights in Greenpoint, Brooklyn where I've lived for 25 years. I've always loved the early morning and late afternoon light and the shadows that are cast. I'm inspired by the shapes of the shadows, capturing the graphic shapes that reference signs but have no content, they point but have no direction.