Kiki Smith (American, b. 1954)
Owls, 1998
Portfolio of four etchings 20 x 16 in. each
Kiki Smith is best known for reintroducing figuration and the female body into American contemporary art in the late 1980s and 90s. Her father, Minimalist sculptor Tony Smith, surrounded himself with artists like Jackson Pollock, Barnett Newman, and Mark Rothko, who were invested in making abstract and non-representational art. Kiki Smith took her practice in the opposite direction exploring a variety of narrative subjects including the celestial world, natural science, animals, and religion. She has incorporated images of birds, and more specifically owls, throughout her career looking at their symbolism in the context of religion, literature, and folklore. Smith is one of the leading contemporary artists working in the field of printmaking today. Her work is in the permanent collections of most major national and international museums.
More information about Kiki Smith can be found here:
https://art21.org/watch/extended-play/kiki-smith-printmaking-short/