Jerry C. Smith

Jerry C. Smith (1965 – 2014) earned a BFA from Tyler School of Art (Temple Univ) and a MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago. He was an amazing artist interested in painting scenes of urban excess. He received many awards and painting grants around the country and his work was widely exhibited and collected.  His artwork was exhibited at Carl Hammer Gallery in Chicago and Bucheon Gallery in San Francisco.

Jerry was an urban person, self-described as “a great indoorsman”, which meant going for a walk was going to a record store or a book store.  He was passionate about jazz and obscure music -- live and recorded.  Jerry was a collector:  his life and home were filled with books, records, art, found photos, and various interesting objects found on the street.  His forays outside of cities were preoccupied with the human impact on the environment.  He noticed that people cart their old appliances, cars and trailers out into the desert landscape… to shoot them, bomb them and set them on fire.  So Jerry painted this.  

Vertical Gallery is honored to be featuring a collection of his Gouache on paper works and oil on canvas works from the 1996 - 2002 period, courtesy of his widow, Laurel Connell.