The piece looks like what the artist titled the piece: a put-out cigarette. I think the craft is very well thought out because the artist took something representational, and in this case, a cigarette, and made it into a geometrical form. I like this piece because when I read the title of the piece, I instantly recalled what a cigarette put-out looks like on an ash-tray- bent. I like how the geometric shape creates different paths for light to enter and wihere there is light, a shadow also occurs, and it creates interesting negative space. I also like the materials used, because in my "tunnel vision" of art do I rarley like sculpture made out of painted steel. Most of the artists work consists of steel sculptures with different shades of paint. I also like the artists work because of his background in the geometric shapes he uses, because of the artists family lineage in factories, and he was always fascinated in the way the machines worked and how they looked. The artist also has "tunnel vision" because of his focus on only geometric shapes with hard corners and simplistic compostion, but it also marks the artists style and voice. Overall I am very pleased with the artists' work because it reflects his perosnal lifestyle and choices as well as a relatable-representational perspective on his pieces.
Tony Smith, Cigarette. 1961 (fabricated 1971). Painted Steel.
The Museum of Modern Art: Painting and Sculpture.
Image from artstor.org
http://library.artstor.org/library/welcome.html#3|search|1|Tony20Smith|Multiple20Collection20Search|||type3D3126kw3DTony20Smith26id3Dall26name3D
Very nice work, Michelle! You provide a lovely formal analysis of the work as well as some interesting critical reflection on your part. Your inclusion of external information (contextual information on the artist's life and body of work) deepens our understanding of this piece.
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