• Margarita Cappock
  

• John Noel Smith
  

• 
  Autumn 2021
  Volume 38. No. 3

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John Noel Smith

John Noel Smith’s journey continues with an enlivening sense of momentum, writes Margarita Cappock

John Noel Smith produces paintings of a singular intensity. His powerful, abstract works combine dynamism with a subtle rendering of surface and possess an inescapable presence and energy that resonate on several different levels – formally, conceptually, intellectually and emotionally. Throughout all the metamorphoses of his style, Smith has never deviated significantly from his commitment to abstract art while maintaining a deep-thinking engagement with both the historic and contemporary world. ‘My work, stretching back over the last forty years, recognises the period from the mid-19th century to the present day as a continuum,‚’ says Smith. ‘My interest, however, is not in news reportage but in a more nuanced investigation into the underlying structures which constitute human relations and connote life.‚’

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John Noel Smith produces paintings of a singular intensity. His powerful, abstract works combine dynamism with a subtle rendering of surface and possess an inescapable presence and energy that resonate on several different levels – formally, conceptually, intellectually and emotionally. Throughout all the metamorphoses of his style, Smith has never deviated significantly from his commitment to abstract art while maintaining a deep-thinking engagement with both the historic and contemporary world. ‘My work, stretching back over the last forty years, recognises the period from the mid-19th century to the present day as a continuum,‚’ says Smith. ‘My interest, however, is not in news reportage but in a more nuanced investigation into the underlying structures which constitute human relations and connote life.‚’