Greg Parma Smith
“ In a Station of the Metro
The apparition of these face in the crowd :
Petals on a wet, black bough .”
(Ezra
Pound,
1913)
16.05
–
15.06.2013
Balice Hertling is pleased to announce « In a Station of the Metro
The apparition of these face in the crowd:
Petals on a wet, black bough. », an exhibition of new works by Greg Parma Smith. For his first solo show in
Paris, Parma Smith continues his investigation into art subcultures that exist outside of art history. While previous
series have explored such subcultures as academic figure painting and comic book animation, these works draw
on graffiti art, craft, and Orientalism.
The title of the show quotes the entire Ezra Pound poem “In a Station of the Metro” (1913) which describes a
moment that Pound experienced in a metro station in Paris. The poem recently appeared in the Manhattan
subway as part of the MTA Poetry in Motion project which aims to bring poetry to the masses.
Two oil paintings (« 1913, I » and « 1913, II ») depict spray paint caps painted from life. While graffiti artists
originally used spray paint made for industrial painting, these works show the diverse array of spray paint colors
which are now manufactured specifically for graffiti and street art. Embedded beneath the layer of oil paint, elderly
“faces in the crowd,” real plastic masks, disrupt the smooth surface of the picture plane.
Like graffiti art, the craft of origami is valued aesthetically and economically according to rules outside of
contemporary art. Stacks of patterned origami paper, the patterns designed by Parma Smith himself, appear in
two oil, acrylic, and metallic leaf paintings (« Xanadu I » and « Xanadu II ») in the show.
The Asian theme continues in two oil paintings (« On a wet, black bough I » and « On a wet, black bough II »)
depicting animals, their style influenced by the simplicity and naturalism of Song Dynasty scrolls. Both paintings
feature images of black bows relating to the “wet, black boughs” in Pound’s haiku inspired poem. These black
trees also appear in a wall painting, invigorating the game of references initiated by the artist.
Greg Parma Smith (born 1983) lives and works in New York. He received his MFA from Columbia University in
2007.
Solo exhibitions include: “GPS.NYC.MTA.CNC.DIY.WTC “ at Vava, Milan, (2012), “Life Drawings, Poseurs, and
‘thirteen oil paintings on canvas’“, BaliceHertling & Lewis, New York (2012), “Dick Blick meets Herr Boesner “
(with Emil Michael Klein), Everest/Fondation Gutzwiller, Zurich (2011).
Group exhibitions include “Standard Operating Procedures” (curated by Piper Marshall), Blum and Poe, Los
Angeles (2012), “The Panel Discussion, The Tennis Match, and A Bodegón “ (collaboration with Nicolás
Guagnini), Andrew Roth Gallery, New York (2011), “Greg Parma Smith & Zin Taylor“, Front Space, Contemporary
Art Musem St. Louis, St. Louis, USA (2009), “REGIFT“ (curated by John Miller), Swiss Institute, New York (2009),
““Desired Constellations“, Daniel Reich Gallery, New York (2007).

Appearing highly personal at first glance, the work of Danh Vo is in fact powerfully political. Neither direct nor confrontational, his practice explores the power games underlying liberal societies, the rules governing those societies, and the fragility of the nation-state idea. Built around the circulation of values, be they material, economic, symbolic or spiritual, the artist’s oeuvre reveals, too, the complexity of the interchange between peoples in the context of post-colonial society.