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John Smith (English filmmaker)

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John Smith (born 1952, Walthamstow, England) is a British avant garde filmmaker noted for his use of humour in exploring various themes that often play upon the film spectator's conditioned assumptions of the medium.

His film The Girl Chewing Gum has been called[1] one of the most important avant-garde films of the 20th century.[2]

Early life and education

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John Smith studied film at the Royal College of Art. After graduating in 1977, he became involved in the activities of the London Filmmakers’ Co-op. Strongly influenced by conceptual art and the structural materialist ideas that dominated British artists' filmmaking at that time, but also fascinated by the immersive power of narrative and the spoken word, he has developed a body of work that reworks and transforms reality, playfully exploring and exposing the language of cinema.[citation needed]

Career

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Since 1972, Smith has made over 50 film, video and installation works that have been shown in cinemas, art galleries and on television around the world and awarded major prizes at film festivals, including Oberhausen Short Film Festival; Cork Film Festival; Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film; 'Punto de Vista' Documentary Festival, Pamplona; Hamburg Short Film Festival; Ann Arbor Film Festival; Uppsala Short Film Festival and Biennial of Moving Images, Geneva. His solo exhibitions include Tanya Leighton, Berlin (2017, 2015, 2013, 2012 and 2010), Alma Zevi, Venice (2017), Kate MacGarry, London (2016), Wolverhampton Art Gallery (2016), Museum of Contemporary Art, Leipzig (2015), La Galerie, Noisy-le-Sec, Paris (2014), Kestnergesellschaft, Hannover (2012), Turner Contemporary, Margate (2012), Weserburg Museum of Contemporary Art, Bremen (2012), Uppsala Art Museum (2011), Sala Diaz Gallery, San Antonio, Texas (2010), Ikon Gallery, Birmingham (2006), Kunstmuseum Magdeburg (2005), Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool (2003) and Pearl Gallery, London (2003). A major retrospective exhibition of his work from 1972 to 2010 curated by the graduating students of the Royal College of Art Curating Contemporary Art Course took place in 2010 at the RCA Galleries.[3] Smith regularly presents his work in person and it has been profiled at retrospectives at the 2007 Venice Biennale and film festivals in Oberhausen, Cork, Tampere, St. Petersburg, Mexico City, Uppsala, Sarajevo, Vilnius, Prizren, Bristol, Munich, Regensburg, Karlstad, Lussas and La Rochelle.

Smith lives and works in London. He is Professor Emeritus of Fine Art at University of East London. In 2011 he received a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Artists and in 2013 he won Film London’s Jarman Award.[4] His work is held in numerous collections, including Arts Council England; Tate Gallery; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz; Ella Fontanals-Cisneros, Miami; Kunstmuseum Magdeburg; Ferens Art Gallery, Hull and Wolverhampton Art Gallery.

Selected filmography

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Year Title Ref(s).
1975 Associations
1976 The Girl Chewing Gum
1977 Hackney Marshes - November 4th 1977 [5]
1984 Shepherd's Delight
1986 Om
1987 The Black Tower
1991 Slow Glass
1996 Blight
1999 The Kiss
Regression
2001 Lost Sound
2001-2007 Hotel Diaries
2003 Worst Case Scenario
2010 Flag Mountain
2011 unusual Red cardigan
The Man Phoning Mum
2012 Dad's Stick
2014 White Hole
2015 Steve Hates Fish
2016 Who Are We?
2017 Song for Europe
2019 A State of Grace
2020 Citadel
Covid Messages
2024 Being John Smith

References

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  1. ^ "John Smith at Tanya Leighton Berlin". Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  2. ^ Program for Uppsala International Short Film Festival 2011, p. 21.
  3. ^ "John Smith Solo Show". Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
  4. ^ "Watch Hackney Marshes - November 4th 1977". BFI Player. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  5. ^ "Watch Hackney Marshes - November 4th 1977". BFI Player. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
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