Artists: Bisco Smith

Original Artworks from Bisco Smith 

These works are included in the Territory exhibition at Armazem Das Artes Alcobaca

The exhibition text for the artist is included below: 

BISCO SMITH

b. 1980, USA

THE WRITTEN MARK

Influenced by the visual language of graffiti, the lyrical rhythms of songwriting, and the freedom of improvised mark-making, Bisco Smith has developed a strong visual voice that is distinctly his own. His practice moves fluidly across painting, muralism, installation, performance, and music.

Bisco has an approach to making that he calls “visual freestyle.” Like freestyle in music, it leaves room for instinct, rhythm and response. But freestyle does not mean without thought. Bisco is careful about the words and slogans he puts into the world. Even when responding to politics, the environment or difficult moments, his messages often lean toward hope, possibility and positive action. The thought comes first. Then he gives himself freedom in how it takes form.

One mark leads to another. Words stretch, overlap and sometimes break apart completely. A line might begin as writing and end as abstraction, or move back the other way. Handwritten words, repeated gestures and fast-moving lines build in layers, carrying the energy of writing even when there is nothing left to read.

This Territory is THE WRITTEN MARK.

For Bisco, writing is more than a way to deliver words. It is a physical act. The speed of the hand, the pressure of a line and the movement of the body all become part of the image. At any scale, his painting is almost performative, like a dance, with the whole body involved in making a mark.