Josh Smith: Faces

Faces 6 and 7 collects 672 drawings made by Josh Smith in 2005. Bound as two separate volumes housed in a handmade paper slipcase, the books consist of energetically-rendered line drawings of faces, the origin of which Smith explains on the book’s last page:

“These quick drawings were made in 2005. This is how they looked then. I showed them at Taxter & Spengemann Gallery, 22nd St, New York. Later, they were shown at Air De Paris, Paris. The Faces were for sale, each was $100. Maybe 90 or 100 were sold and the rest, I think, are still with Florence in Paris. I like drawing them quick without thinking or looking, and then looking at the result. The drawings are so simple that there is no reason to correct the flaws that appear. Drawing these was cathartic and I still draw faces all the time. Not not in a deliberate way [sic], but different. I would reccomend [sic] drawing to anyone. It is impossible to make it wrong so there is no stress.”