Damian Smith

Damian Smith is a curator, arts writer and academic, and currently the Secretary of AICA Australia (International Association of Art Critics). He is the director of Words For Art, an international consultancy specialising in contemporary culture and discourse. His recent projects include the exhibition Sifting Time…, at the Chinese Museum, Melbourne.

Damian Smith reviews ‘Margaret Preston’ by Deborah Edwards (with Rose Peel et al.) and ‘The Prints of Margaret Preston: A catalogue raisonné’ by Roger Butler

March 2006, no. 279 • 01 March 2006

There is something immensely satisfying about a work so ambitious and comprehensive as Deborah Edwards’s Margaret Preston, published by the Art Gallery of New South Wales to accompany its current retrospective on this pre-eminent Australian modernist. From the outset, we are introduced to Preston’s perennial capacity to stimulate not only debate but also downright factionalism. The introductor ... (read more)

Damian Smith reviews 'Nolan on Nolan: Sidney Nolan in his own words' edited by Nancy Underhill

November 2007, no. 296 • 01 November 2007

Nolan On Nolan: Sidney Nolan in His Own Words, edited by Nancy Underhill, is an important publication which elucidates the importance of literature and poetry in Sidney Nolan’s creative process. The collection also highlights the painter’s relationships with a diverse range of celebrated artists and writers, including Benjamin Britten, Robert Lowell, Samuel Beckett, and Patrick White. Drawn fr ... (read more)