M HKA Ensembles

Drawing, 11.1 x 7 cm.

Collection: Courtesy of Gladstone Gallery, New York/Brussels.

Jack Smith (1932-1989) was an American filmmaker, actor and underground cinema pioneer. Widely acclaimed as the founder of American performance art, he also made photographs, though these works are rare and remain largely unknown.

His practice coincides with the 50 year overview M HKA conceived. Smith was a forerunner of various art movements that would be developed in the second half of 20^th century. Without him, a phenomenon like camp or the experimental theatre genre would be unthinkable, and he can also be seen as an influence on the pop art and punk movements. In addition to his contribution to performance art and experimental film, Smith had a big influence on someone like Andy Warhol, who 'borrowed' and commercialised the 'Superstars' and 'Factory' ideas from Jack Smith. The point bra that we associate with Jean Paul Gaultier and Madonna is also the fruit of Jack Smith's imagination. Artists such as Robert Wilson, Cindy Sherman, John Waters and Mike Kelley acknowledge Jack Smith's influence on their work.

Smith was an artist far ahead of his time, whose ideas were capitalised on by other artists. He was well aware of this, and the frustration about it eventually led to a total rejection of the art world. He called its representatives, gallerists, critics, and collectors lobsters – a metaphor for all the figures who destroy art and the world.

Jack Smith will remain forever linked to his film Flaming Creatures that, when it came out in 1963, was instantly banned in the United States because of its 'obscene' content. The film featured here, The Yellow Sequence – considered a coda to 1963's Normal Love, the sequel to Flaming Creatures – is rarely shown. All the Jack Smith ingredients are present in The Yellow Sequence, such as his typical use of colour and music that support the plotless structure of the film and the grotesque characters – often transvestites – that evoke an alienating and surrealistic world in brilliant image compositions.

Jack Smith died on September 25, 1989 from the consequences of AIDS.