Lucien Smith

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Lucien Smith

interview by BILL POWERS
portrait by ALEXIS DAHAN

 

BILL POWERS — Let’s begin by telling our readers where this interview is taking place.
LUCIEN SMITH — Sure. We’re in Claverack, New York, a small town just east of the Hudson River. Population: 2,000. When I was attending college in New York City, I would visit friends of mine at Bard College, which is just up the Hudson, not far from here. After I graduated I knew I needed to remove myself from the city in order to really focus. Painting up here allows me to work on a larger scale. In the city I couldn’t make paintings outside, for example, which is something I can do here.

BILL POWERS — When did you first become interested in contemporary art?
LUCIEN SMITH — It was when I saw the Matthew Barney exhibition at the…