La Luz De Jesus Gallery proudly presents the return of Owen Smith. Influenced by WPA muralists, pulp magazines and lurid paperbacks of the 1930s, '40s and '50s, Smith's magnificent oil paintings depict today's "Everyman" in everyday situations: subway riders, elderly shut-ins, prize fighters, nurses, bookies, jailbirds and construction workers are all portrayed with simplicity, dignity and vigor. Smith enhances the mood of his powerful figures with his use of deep, rich color and volumetric modeling.

Since graduating from Pasadena Art Center College of Design in 1988, Owen, whose clients include the Playboy Jazz Festival, San Francisco Opera and the United Nations, has become one of the most celebrated and coveted illustrators of our time. Familiar to subscribers of Rolling Stone, Time, GQ and Esquire magazines, Owen is perhaps most widely known for his cover illustrations of The New Yorker magazine's Special Summer and Winter Fiction issues from 1995 to 1998. In 1998 Smith designed five mosaic mural panels depicting the History of the New York Subway System which were permanently installed in the 36th Street Station (N and R lines,) in Brooklyn. Last year Owen illustrated The Jack Tales, a collection of tall tales from Appalachia told by well known storyteller Ray Hicks. His work was featured at the Museum of American Illustrations exhibits Covering the New Yorker and Rolling Stone: The Illustrated Portraits. He is currently one of seven artists commissioned by the San Francisco Art Commission to design permanent artwork for the Laguna Honda Hospital Project. The Penalty Phase marks Owen Smith's fourth solo show at La Luz de Jesus Gallery.

"Broadway"

23x25"
SOLD

"Wad"

19.5 x 22.75"
SOLD