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Allison Smith’s Art pace project continues to examine how political meaning can reside within aesthetic forms and to employ history to comment on current events. Featured is Hobby Horse, a performance-based sculpture of the traditional child’s toy, complete with horsehair, glass eyes, and handmade bridle. Standing more than nine feet tall, the oversized object lays bare the militaristic spirit of this old-fashioned plaything and probes equestrian statuary’s commemoration of bloodshed.
The performance staged by Smith at the exhibition’s opening further engaged this duality. Donning a replicated Civil War-era uniform and carrying a handcrafted flag, haversack, and rifle—all deposited in the gallery after the event—the artist mounted Hobby Horse and sang a lullaby, set to the time-honored battle hymn “When Johnny Comes Marching Home.” However, Smith replaced the original lyrics, which are celebratory, with her own, which speak of living in divided times of cultural impasse. A limited edition print of the song sheet accompanies the show.
With her handwoven coverlet Security Blanket (Drums of War), Smith has evoked the politics of textiles. Smith altered the 19th-century design Lee’s Surrender to include oil drums, an allusion to the position of economics in contemporary conflicts, and used red, blue, and yellow, a trio of recurring hues that represent both the US today as a polarized nation and the primary colors of art. Also included is a life-sized pioneer doll clad in a smocked dress, bonnet, and boots.
Made using doll parts cast from her own body, this surrogate object affords Smith an opportunity for role play while addressing the socialization of children through toys. Hand printed in blue, red, and yellow on the girl’s pinafore is Smith’s refrain: What are you fighting for?
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2007

• Upcoming, February, Florida Atlantic University, Baton Rouge

2006

• Allison Smith/New Works: 06.3, Artpace, San Antonio

2006

• Notion Nanny, Qube gallery, Shropshire, UK. In development with B+B, Sarah Carrington & Sophie Hope

2005

• The Muster, a project of the Public Art Fund, Governors Island, New York
• ARMORY at The Armory Show, New York
• Notion Nanny, Studio Voltaire, London, UK Group. In development with B+B, Sarah Carrington & Sophie Hope
• Victory Hall, Bellwether, New York

2002

• Stilleven,evenStill, Bellwether, Brooklyn

2001

• Consuming Nostalgia, Eldridge Street Project, New York

2000

• Mom-n-Pop, Artists Space, Meat Market Art Fair, New York

Conclusions:
Allison Smith’s Art pace project continues to examine how political meaning can reside within aesthetic forms and to employ history to comment on current events. Featured is Hobby Horse, a performance-based sculpture of the traditional child’s toy, complete with horsehair, glass eyes, and handmade bridle. Standing more than nine feet tall, the oversized object lays bare the militaristic spirit of this old-fashioned plaything and probes equestrian statuary’s commemoration of bloodshed.

What to Do Next...
If you want any information about Allison Smith or looking for his paintings please visit us on http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/allison_smith.htm