Arvie Smith is a painter and educator whose career spans more than four decades. His work confronts the omissions, violations, and enduring legacies of American history, particularly as they relate to the Black experience. Drawing on personal memories of growing up in the Jim Crow South, Smith creates metaphor-rich, vibrantly colored tableaus that examine racial politics, cultural memory, and social justice. His paintings are both a critique of systemic oppression and a celebration of resilience, using humor, rhythm, and historical iconography to challenge derogatory stereotypes and spark reflection. Smith’s practice is grounded in extensive research and shaped by the writings of thinkers such as James Baldwin, Angela Davis, Maya Angelou, W.E.B. Du Bois, Michelle Alexander, and Isabel Wilkerson. Through his work, he seeks to preserve the memory of injustice while affirming the beauty, complexity, and strength of marginalized communities.
Smith (b.1938, Houston, TX) lives and works in Portland, OR. Smith holds an MFA from the Hoffberger School of Painting, Maryland Institute College of Art and a BFA from Pacific Northwest College of Art. Smith studied at Il Bisonte and SACI in Florence in 1983. Recent solo exhibitions include moniquemeloche, Chicago, IL (2025, 2022); the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Salem, OR (2022); Jordan Schnitzer Museum, Portland, OR (2022); and Disjecta Contemporary Art Center, Portland, OR (2019). His work has been included in group exhibitions at the Venice Biennale, IT (2022); Galerie Myrtis (2019); UTA Art Space, Beverly Hills, CA; Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR (2017); and Upfor Gallery, Portland, OR (2020). Smith’s work is currently included in the group exhibition When Langston Hughes Came to Town at the Nevada Museum of Art, (2025-2026).
Smith’s work is held in the permanent collections of the Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR; Delaware Museum of Art, Wilmington, DE; Reginald F. Lewis Museum, Baltimore, MD; Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Salem, OR; Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK; Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon, Eugene, OR; the Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art, Asbury, NJ and the Pierce and Hill Harper Arts Foundation, Detroit, MI. Smith is a 2024 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellow of Fine Arts. Smith lives and works in Portland, OR.