Casey Jex Smith

CASEY JEX SMITH received a BFA in Painting from Brigham Young University and an MFA in Painting from the San Francisco Art Institute. He currently resides in Provo, Utah with his wife and fellow artist Amanda Smith and their two children and works as a UX Designer. His art has been exhibited at The Drawing Center, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Josée Bienvenu Gallery, Yancey Richardson Gallery, Roberts & Tilton, Galerie Polaris, and Allegra LaViola Gallery. Casey uses the structures of role-play-gaming and religious ritual to create allegorical drawings. Leveling up, isometric perspective, character creation, quest items, mythical beasts, and battles are used to mirror real life scenarios where the individual butts up against institutional power structures. He contrasts the reward system in gaming that is finely tuned to balance work with pleasure to the unequal reward system of global capitalism. His visual style draws largely from the study of master etchings, Dungeons & Dragons manuals, Biblical narratives, Minimalism, and underground comics.