“Boiler Room”, by Owen Smith, 2012
“Riddle”, by Owen Smith 2011
Paul Manship, Salome, 1915
From the Smithsonian American Art Museum:
In the New Testament, Salome is King Herod’s beautiful stepdaughter. Herod was so entranced with Salome that he offered her anything “unto the half of my kingdom” if she performed the Dance of the Seven Veils for his birthday (Mark 6:21). John the Baptist had angered Salome by rejecting her, and after she performed her seductive dance she asked Herod for John’s head on a silver platter. This biblical story of royal intrigue, sex, and murder has inspired many artists, including composer Richard Strauss and author Oscar Wilde, whose 1893 stage version was banned in England for more than thirty years. Here, Salome’s elaborate drapery and long limbs lead the viewer’s eye to the decapitated head, emphasizing her bittersweet victory over the prophet.
Paul Manship, Eve, 1935
From the Smithsonian American Art Museum:
Paul Manship captured Eve as a tortured soul. Her clenched fists symbolize her struggle with the snake that tempts her to eat the forbidden fruit. Manship’s sculpture demonstrates a number of influences. The snake, for example, is supposed to be Lilith, the female demon of ancient mythologies, and her sinister face evokes the gargoyles of medieval cathedrals. The sculptor wanted to make Eve seem innocent, so he modeled her to look like an ancient Greek marble, which he believed was the purest form of sculpture. Her classicized torso rests comfortably on her left leg, and Manship even inserted an unnecessary back support, as if the piece were carved, to further allude to Greek sculpture.
“Wake”, by Owen Smith, 2012
Maltese Falcon, Owen Smith 2011 for BART
Joy Luck Club, Owen Smith 2011 for BART
Call of the Wild, Owen Smith 2011 for BART
Owen Smith, “Building the Iron Horse” featured on the current cover of ZYZZYVA,8/2011.
Owen Smith, Building the Iron Horse , 2009
Design Painting for Mosaic Lobby Mural at Laguna Honda Hospital, San Francisco.
Owen Smith, “Sunday Punch”, 2009
“Nacht” 2011
Painting for the Krampus themed “Blab!” group show at Roq La Rue Gallery in Seattle curated by Monte Beauchamp
Portrait of Jay-Z for Rolling Stone,
Owen Smith, 2011
Owen Smith, “Behemoth”, Oil on canvas, 2005
Owen Smith, “Combatant”, Society of Illustrators show “Artists Against the War”
