Going into the Rox Gallery on Manhattan’s Lower East Side to see Tom Smith’s Heavenly Bodies, the first thing that caught my attention about the gallery was the bold contrast between the plain, white walls and the pulsating colors of every painting. Like the Rox Gallery, most art galleries have white walls to create a sense of cleanliness and to direct the focus of the viewer to the painting. However, this effect is even more so for Heavenly Bodies as each painting is glowing with an abundance of bright colors that immediately strike the viewer as he/she comes into the room.

Boom Boom Room

As a result, the vibrant colors are a central importance to Heavenly Bodies. Take for example the painting to the right Boom Boom Room. In this art piece (one of my favorite), we see an assortment of light and dark neon-shaded colors such as green, blue, purple. yellow, etc. that are exuberant and work together to form an abstract, three dimensional-looking image. Although ideas about what the painting actually portrays  differs from perspective to perspective, the vibrant colors of the painting nevertheless instill in the viewer a sense of joyfulness and enthusiasm. This sense of joy and enthusiasm, according to a discussion with Tom Smith, are meant to reflect the ideas of heaven and utopia, places people often envision and associate with happiness.

Strobe

Another interesting aspect of Heavenly Bodies is how digital each painting looks. From afar, the paintings look like they were made by computer. However up close, one can tell that the paintings were hand-made with physical objects such as wood, glue, and paint. As a result, Smith creates a paradox in which a hand-made painting looks digital, which blurs the line between what is digital and what is physical. Heavenly Bodies illustrates and reflects how art in modern day society is slowly becoming more and more digitize, moving away from conventional means of producing art.

Overall, Tom Smith’s Heavenly Bodies offers a refreshing take on art; its highly vibrant colors in conjunction with its digital appearance presented an art style that I found unique and enjoyable to look at.

More information about Tom Smith, Heavenly Bodies, and his other works can be found at: http://www.tomsmithart.com/works/