Of all the places where celebrated painter Mark T. Smith could have re-emerged for his first solo exhibition in nearly 15 years, it’s kismet that he’s staging the event at Orlando’s Mills Gallery.
After graduating from New York City’s Pratt Institute, the 22-year-old Smith’s career was kickstarted by a prestigious commission: a limited-edition poster for the Walt Disney Company in Orlando.
Soon he also earned recognition for his paintings, animations and design work for such corporate clients as Chrysler, MTV, Nickelodeon, Pepsi, Sony, Showtime, Taco Bell and VH1. He also displayed his work at fine-art festivals and accepted commissions from clients that included the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.
(Smith’s Taco Bell series, which was reproduced for display in the chain’s restaurants, gained a cult following after some pieces were stolen from stores and began to turn up on eBay and other online resale platforms.)
“It’s such a poetic turn of events that I’m stepping back into the ring in Orlando,” says Smith. “I’m really thrilled to be back. I have all these works, and I want to share them with others. I think art has a really important role to play in people’s lives, and I miss contributing to that.”
Smith walked away from the public art world in 2009, citing health complications and challenges from the Great Recession. He changed career paths about as drastically as any artist could—working his way up to a senior vice president role at an information technology consulting firm.
Still, he never stopped creating. When he began to consider resuming his career as a full-time working artist, a mutual friend introduced him to Mills Gallery art scout and producer Johanna Murillo.
The collaboration with the Mills Gallery team has led to The Third Act, an exhibition that opens May 30. It will showcase some of the work Smith has produced while away from the public eye.
Says Smith: “I called the show Third Act because I think of my life in stages, and I just closed the door on the last stage. It’s time again to make a change and go back to what I would do naturally if left to my own devices.”
Boris Douglas Garbe, the lively venue’s gallerist, says that while Smith’s intricate and provocative work stood out to him, he was just as taken with the artist’s commitment to giving back.
Over the years, Smith has partnered with Operation Smile and was selected as the first artist to participate in “Paint on Pink,” an initiative through which artwork was created using salvaged materials and sold to benefit recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina.
Adds Garbe: “The artist is as important as the art. And if the artist is as important as the art, then I want to be supporting the artists who are doing good things for their community.”
Mills Gallery is located at 1650 N Mills Ave., Orlando. For more information, visit millsgalleryoforlando.com or call 855.336.3653.
