Art as a Coded Language: How Visual Artist Harold D. Smith Jr. Commentates on the Black Experience Through Multimedia Works

Angela Ramirez

June 7, 2023

Harold Smith is a self-taught artist whose practice examines the Black American experience, addressing  complex issues regarding stereotypical perceptions of Black men and how these narratives impact community attitudes as they navigate through life. 

His art comes to life in rich, vibrant colors and swashes of thick, expressive strokes through visual medias like painting, collage, mixed media, performance, video, sound, and assemblage. At the age of 59, Smith became a dedicated full-time artist without the added tension as an educator. Smith taught for 36 years before retiring in December of 2021 and moving into a large studio space at Studios Inc in February of 2022. 

“I love it! It's less stress. Of course, being retired, you’re not getting a full salary. You get a pension which is a percentage,” Smith said. “So, definitely there is a little more pressure as far as maybe being able to sell a piece here and there. But the day-to-day stress of the classroom, I ain’t have to deal with that.”

His studio space is reflective of the labor he puts into his art: spray-paint markings adorn the off-white walls, in-progress works recline amongst wooden beams, and an array of acrylic paints amalgamate on paint-stained tables. 

In his latest work, Smith alludes to Black culture with the phrase, “minding my own gotdam business” – a statement encapsulating the mindset of the older generation fatigued with drama. He also references music, thoughts, and films such as Superfly, Shaft, Blacula, and Blackenstein in his empowering oeuvres. But today, Superfly and Shaft carry a different meaning than when he first viewed them as a 10-year-old. 

“Watching them now, it was my lived experiences. I am beginning to see things that the filmmakers were saying that as a child I didn’t recognize,” Smith said. “I am beginning to realize that there were a lot of messages of empowerment woven into these cultural things – the music, the movies, the magazines.”

His interest in science-fiction, Afrofuturism, and the post-apocalyptic inspired Smith to bring characters to fruition through science-fiction short stories. His work “If Only” is inspired by an Afrofuturist short story he wrote in which a solar flare hits Earth and turns melanin into titanium. 

“All of us with melanin skin, it makes us bullet proof,” Smith said. “Now what happens? How would the world change?”

Today, the narratives that inform his new series concern Black vernacular and sayings. Smith examines quotes that are often used in the Black community or have become a part of the Black experience. Within this new series, he is addressing the role of language and personal expression by incorporating more text in his art. 

To him, exploring these phrases resembles a coded language. 

“It’s interesting how there are certain sayings and quotes of things that can become synonymous of a cultural group. It’s almost like our little private conversation and only we can say it,” Smith said. “It resonates differently when we say it.” 

Of course, Smith has utilized his practice to commemorate Black lives which have been lost through unjust means. His work “Amadou Diallo” is based on the murder of an unarmed young Black man who died by the hands of four New York City officers in 1999. In this piece, Smith references the number ‘41’ – the amount of times Diallo was shot. 

In a most recent work titled “Stop-and-Frisk,” he commemorates Black men who were killed under New York City’s stop-and-frisk policy. 

Various items spray-painted all in black reference the objects victims carried with them that led to their deaths. Smith alludes to one man who was shot-to-death because police believed the toy model car in his pocket was a gun and another man who was shot-to-death because police mistook his toothbrush for a gun. 

Another for his flash drive.

Another for his cassette tape. 

The black shoes in the work represent the harmless Black men who were targeted by the stop-and-frisk police due to the color of their skin. 

“It was basically aimed at Black men,” Smith said. “It really sounds like something straight out of Nazi-Germany where you could be walking down the street, and just because of the color of your skin, you can be stopped and frisked.” 

Not only does his art leave a lasting impression on those who come across it, but viewers will understand why Smith is deserving of his success. His artistic practice is expressive, riveting, and inspiring. He generates a personal language through brushwork to engage viewers in active conversations meaningful to him as a Kansas City based artist.

Smith is a gift whose talents manifest with a paintbrush in hand to create a waltz on any surface he can find. 

His work is currently being featured in SOMA: Reclaiming the Body at Studios Inc, 1708 Campbell St. Kansas City, MO 64108. The exhibit will be on display from June 2nd through July 15th. Those interested can visit studiosinc.org for further information.