Addressing painting through a variety of historical references – from Expressionism to Pop art – Josh Smith subverts the aura of the object through his casual aesthetics. In Untitled, Smith engages with materiality and formalism as a means to supersede visual expectation, infusing his canvas with a sense of experimentation and play. Combining the spontaneous brushwork of his abstracted signature with imprints of his own hand, Smith underscores the authenticity of artistic gesture. Bringing to mind the self-mythologising work of Martin Kippenberger and Albert Oehlen, his canvases don’t strive to appeal visually, but rather to suggest new ways in which the role of the artist can function and painting can have contemporary meaning.