Bisco Smith

BISCO SMITH is a contemporary visual artist with roots in music, graffiti, and street art, currently based in Brooklyn, New York. Bisco works in a variety of formats, including canvas and large outdoor murals, and is known for his “visual freestyle”—characterized as a blend of graffiti deconstruction, gestural abstraction, and lyric-based stylewriting. Made predominantly with a black and white color palette, his art visually captures the rhythms of music and the energy of the moment through its spontaneous marks and abstracted text.

The principles of automatic writing and freestyle rapping—improvisation, stream of consciousness, and being in the moment—are integral to Bisco Smith’s process. He begins each painting by selecting an instrumental song or beat and tuning into the music. When the inspiration hits, Bisco takes to the canvas with dynamic, rhythmic brushstrokes, writing out freestyle lyrics that express the consciousness and energy of that moment. In addition to textural abstractions, a positive undertone and social commentary is a common theme in his work. Often using tools such as household paint, rollers, spray paint, and wheat paste, Bisco brings what he’s learned on the street into the studio.

Bisco Smith has ex...

Pratt Institute, Brooklyn NY - 2002
Bachelor in Communication Design

2018

Solo Shows
"Journey" (residency / solo exhibition) - Urban Spree - Berlin
"Infinite" - Art Central x Treason Gallery - Hong Kong

Group Shows
Cast: A benefit for Immigrant New Yorkers - New York
Remix: The Art of Music - Gabba Gallery - Los Angeles Vice and Virtue - Treason Gallery x Avenue Des Arts - Seattle
Public Display No.2 (curated by ASVP) - Agnés B - New York

Special Projects
"Forever Forward" - Murals In The Market / 1xRun - Detroit
Adidas X Parley: Run for the Oceans (Live Painting) - New York
Rendon Hotel: Hidden Rooms - Los Angeles
"The Future Is Now" (Youth Engagement Mural Project) - Park City
Red Table Talks (Internet Show w/ Jada Pinkett Smith) - Facebook
Buzz Art Auction - Miami
Audible Treats (Interior Mural) - Brooklyn
HK Walls (Mural Festival) - Hong Kong
Coach New York Artist Series (Custom Artwork) - Brooklyn

2017

Solo Shows
"Tomorrows" - Treason Gallery - Seattle
"Code Red" - Lazy Susan Gallery - New York

Group Shows
Season Opener - Williams McCall Gallery (Coconut Grove) - Miami
Analog Angels - Fat Free Art - New York
Contemporism - Zimmerling & Jungfleisch Gallery - London
Anniversary Exhibit - 212 Arts - New York
Crate Digger - Gabba Gallery - Los Angeles
Duality...