Accompanying the comprehensive museum survey Barbara T. Smith: Proof, dedicated to the life and work of the pioneering performance artist, ICA LA is proud to publish the artist’s first survey catalogue. Featuring an illustrated chronology of Smith’s life and artwork compiled by Jenelle Porter, the catalogue also includes commissioned texts by by leading scholars Gloria Sutton, Catherine Taft, and Pietro Rigolo, who elaborate on Smith’s work as it relates to new technologies, ecofeminism, and the archive.
Celebrating Smith as not just a performance artist but also a maker of things and an archivist of her output, this singular publication highlights the wide range of objects and ephemera made for, and often resulting from, her performance artworks - offering proof of a life lived as art.