Brian Smyth

Who is Brian Smyth?

Brian Smyth is an Irish figurative painter. Born in Cork, Smyth studied art at the Crawford College of Art and Design in Cork, where he specialised in painting and graduated with an honours degree in art and design in 1995. Subsidiary subjects included print, video and photography.

In January 2000, Smyth exhibited at Lavit gallery with Tom Climent and Martin Finnin in a "smart and trendy" show. Jo Allen in Circa described Smyth's work as "tastefully hued paintings of photographs of a pretty woman resting were slick and pleasing to the eye. But they seemed to have little to say beyond their cool, ironic stance."

Mark Ewart in The Irish Times said the work of each of the three exhibiting artists was "quite distinctive", Smyth's colours being toned down to the point where they approached monochrome, and that his work, like Climent's, was nostalgic: "The paintings of the reclining female figures are particularly atmospheric, the features seeming to melt into an understated, yet fluidly painted background."