Image: EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art
Howard Smith’s work is currently presented in two exhibitions at EMMA: a retrospective and ‘Verholla – Painokankaiden taide,’ which includes printed fabrics he designed for Vallila.
‘Verholla – Painokankaiden taide’ presents printed fabrics by 31 designers, dating from the 1930s to the present, and approaches familiar patterns from the perspective of art, with emphasis on the 1950s through the 1980s.
Smith began designing printed fabrics for Vallila’s Silkkitehdas in 1968; during the following decade, he created numerous large-patterned, vividly coloured fabrics decorated with abstract designs and stylised plant and floral motifs.
Known for his vivid expression, Smith collected Finnish peasant objects such as wooden shovels and made art from discarded textiles and objects he found.
