ART MATTERS
Emigrating artist Steven Smith holds liquidation sale' exhibit
Friday, May 05, 2006
Dan Tranberg
Special to The Plain Dealer

Artist, poet and publisher Steven B. Smith has been a beloved fixture in Cleveland's underground art scene since the mid-1970s. Now, at age 60, he and his new wife, Kathy Ireland Smith, plan to sell off their possessions and move to Europe.

To that end, Smith is holding the exhibition "The Other People's Art Show: Emigration Liquidation Sale" at Brandt Gallery, 1028 Kenilworth Ave. in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood, through Saturday, May 13.

The show is a mixture of works from Smith's personal collection, featuring collages and assemblages by him and his mother, as well as works in a variety of mediums by many area artists, including Anna Arnold, Bill Brouillard, Joan Deveney, George Fitzpatrick, Tim Herron, Jake Kelly, George Kocar, Ken Motz, Ken Nevadomi, Ed Raffel, Brenda Stumpf, Steve Tokar and others. 

In the past year, Smith's life has been marked by extreme highs and lows. His mother, artist and poet Florence E. Smith, also known as "Mother Dwarf," died last summer at age 79.

Since then, Smith fell in love and got married. He was also diagnosed with throat cancer.

Smith reports that his cancer is "both treatable and survivable." While undergoing treatment, he's been busy publishing the final issue of "ArtCrimes," a journal of art and poetry that he has produced for the past 20 years.

Call 216-621-1610 or go to www.brandtgallery.org and Smith's personal Web site: www.agentofchaos.com.

Tranberg is an artist and writer living in Cleveland. Art Matters is a column that runs weekly in Friday! covering the area art scene. 
To reach Dan Tranberg:
trandan@core.com
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