Mickey Smith

Mickey Smith (b.1972 Minnesota, USA) is an award winning conceptual photographer based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
 

Smith’s photography is a striking and poignant reflection of human history through her documentation of simple, provocative titles found on library shelves and second hand book stores around the world.

Smith’s work continuously explores the state of entropy within libraries, as we witness information systems shift, digitize and collections become deaccessioned. Her artworks explore the life cycles of publications and book collections, and the dedicated labour of those who care for them. The artist’s playful capturing of words and scale transcend the spines on which they appear to create conceptual, anthropological works, which document significant moments in time.

"With wit and an ironically dispassionate lens, Smith’s focus reaches far beyond the aisles and shelves of your local library… By focusing on the minutiae of the magazine stacks, and blowing them up, Smith heralds the benefits of open minds and a democratic tradition.” – D. Abbot,  Art New Zealand
 

Smith holds a BA in Photography from Minnesota State University, USA (1994) and a Diploma in Jewellery Design from Hungry Creek Art & Craft School, Aotearoa (2019).

In 2022 the artist exhibited her TIME & AGAIN series with the European Cultural Centre at the Venice Biennale. In 2024 Smith presented her largest-to-date public exhibition at the Law Warschaw Gallery, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. The exhibition features acclaimed projects VOLUME, Denudation, and As You Will: Carnegie Libraries of the South Pacific and will travel through 2024 – 2025 to the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, North Dakota, USA, and the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.

Smith’s work has been included in numerous exhibitions throughout Aotearoa, the United States, China and Russia. Her works belong to numerous public and private collections, including the Museum of Modern Art Library, Sheldon Museum of Art and Weisman Art Museum. She has received grants and awards from the McKnight Foundation, CEC ArtsLink, Americans for the Arts and Creative New Zealand.

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