Welcome to Kunst Speak with Brask. In this podcast, we explore the world of art through the eyes of passionate art enthusiasts based in Los Angeles and New York. Together with art collector, publisher, and curator Jens-Peter Brask, we uncover inspiring perspectives, captivating stories, and memorable anecdotes from the art world. Our mission is to spark curiosity and encourage more people to connect with and appreciate art in all its forms. Join us as we embark on this creative journey together. 

In this episode, we talk to Josh Smith, an American artist based between New York and Tennessee.Originally trained as a printmaker, Josh began working with collage in the early 2000s. Combining photocopies, documents, and drawings in layered compositions, he developed abstract images that draw on surrealist and expressionist approaches to painting.
Josh first gained recognition in the early 2000s for a body of work consisting of paintings featuring the letters of his own name. Using these letters as a starting point, he transformed them into the foundation for abstract imagery.
In recent years, Josh has produced numerous semi-figurative series exploring a wide range of subjects, including palm trees, skeletons, fish, and devils. One of his most recognisable motifs is the Grim Reaper, a figure that has appeared repeatedly throughout his work. The motif first became a major focus in 2017, when he presented a series of 11 Grim Reaper paintings in his solo exhibition at STANDARD (OSLO). The figure has since become closely associated with his visual language, reflecting his fascination with mortality, symbolism, and the tension between the playful and the darker sides of life.
Josh works across many different mediums. He also creates artist books, sculptures, ceramics, and collages, often allowing ideas and images to move freely between different forms.
What makes his practice particularly engaging is this constant movement between the personal and the universal, the abstract and the figurative, and the serious and the playful. His work seems to embrace the idea that a painting can be both immediate and mysterious - something that can be looked at, experienced, and interpreted without necessarily having to explain itself.
In this episode, we talk with Josh about his artistic journey, his relationship with painting and other mediums, and the ideas, images, and impulses that continue to shape his work. 

You can find Kunst Speak with Brask on Spotify and everywhere else you normally listen to podcasts. If you enjoy the series, feel free to give us a few stars! Tune in. 

@curatedbyjenspeterbrask 
@joshiejosho
@joshsmiththeartist