February 26, 2019

Phillip K. Smith III Debuts “Portals: A Space for Color” at Sonoma Valley Museum of Art

During Design Miami 2017, dozens of tall, slender bars of mirrored-polished stainless steel poked up from the sand outside the Faena Hotel Miami Beach. Throughout the day, they reflected the sun, clouds, and surrounding buildings. Called 120 Degree Arc East-Southeast, its investigation of light, form, and envi­ron­ment is the focus of its creator, Phillip K. Smith III. Today, different works are the subject of his debut museum exhibition in Northern California: “Portals: A Space for Color,” at the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art through April 7. Again, the white fiberglass rounds change over time, from pastel to saturated. They were part of a larger installation from the 2016 Coachella music festival near Joshua Tree National Park, which, perhaps not coincidentally, is where Smith, a former architect, created his first artist-initiated public project, Lucid Stead, an old shack he dressed up in mirrors and LEDs.

Phillip K. Smith III’s Portal 1, in fiberglass, automotive paint, and LEDs, on view at the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art through April 7, changes from soft to saturated colors as day shifts to night. Photography by Lance Gerber/courtesy of Phillip K. Smith III Studio.

> See more from the February 2019 issue of Interior Design

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