“Is There Anything Sweeter?” by Cedric Smith

36 x 36 inches acrylic painting on gallery wrap canvas –unframed

Cedric Smith was born in Philadelphia in 1970. He grew up in Thomaston, Georgia, where he moved with his family when he was a young boy.

Smith is a self-taught artist who while eschewing the so-called rules of art, has created a personal genre of work. He draws on a wide range of influences and sources, both traditional and contemporary, and which include landscape art, pop art, brand advertising and photography to express his poignant observations of life in the rural south. A prolific artist, Smith works with a honed discipline on his compositions, seamlessly morphing photographic images into his richly textured pieces, applying and removing layers and lettering.

Much of his current work is devoted to redressing an observation that dogged him as a child – the absence of Blacks in advertising and on the labels of popular brands.

Smith has had a number of solo exhibitions since 1998. They include Barbara Archer Gallery, Atlanta, GA; Beverly Libby Gallery, Atlanta, GA; Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA; Thelma Harris Gallery, Oakland, CA; Noel Gallery, Charlotte, NC, and AT&T, Atlanta, GA. His work has also been shown in numerous group exhibitions. Public collections in which his work can be found include The Francis Walker Museum in Thomaston, GA; The Tubman Museum in Macon, GA, and Morris Brown College, Atlanta, GA. The artist and his work have been the subject of several articles, reviews and television programs.