Josi Smit (b. 1993) is a multidisciplinary artist who works in sculpture, installation, photography, and text. Josi’s work considers how nostalgia and desire orient us, the intimacies we form with objects and spaces, and how subversion can emerge from tenderness and fantasy.
Josi is currently based in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal, QC.
CV
Education
2014-2018 BFA with Distinction, Sculpture/Installation + Creative Writing minor, OCAD University, Toronto
2011-2013 Film Production, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto
Solo & Two-Person Exhibitions
2023 We Should Be Dancing, Forest City Gallery, London, ON
2018 We always bought cherry soda on the walk home, curated by Shell Projects, *QueenSpecific, Toronto
2018 A View to a Room, with Sarah Munro, curated by Juliana Zalucky, Zalucky Contemporary, Toronto
Group Exhibitions
2023 Plumbraiser 4.0, the plumb, Toronto
2023 Feedback Loop, curated by Rowan Lynch, MKG127, Toronto
2021 The Way You Look Tonight (as Special Programming,) curated by Philip Ocampo, Xpace Cultural Centre, Toronto
2020 Crawling out of a hidden place, curated by Anaïs Castro & David Liss, Arsenal Contemporary, Toronto
2019 The Walls, curated by TheTheThe (Briar Gill & J. Thomas Kim,) 181 Brunswick Ave, Toronto
2019 The Rooms, curated by TheTheThe (Briar Gill & J. Thomas Kim,) 181 Brunswick Ave, Toronto
2019 The Bald Eagle’s Claw, Curated by Philip Ocampo, Xpace Cultural Centre, Toronto
2019 Annual Fundraiser Exhibition & Sale, Xpace Cultural Centre, Toronto
2019 The tile was still the same, Curated by Natalie Castrogiovanni, 12 Ossington Ave, Toronto
2019 λ (wavelength), Curated by Charisse Fung, Ada Slaight Gallery, Toronto
2018 16th BMO 1st Art Exhibition, Justina M. Barnicke Gallery, Toronto
2018 Rooms, curated by Bill Clarke, Angell Gallery, Toronto
2018 Entangled: Roundtable Residency Exhibition, Dragon Academy, Toronto
2018 Fresh Paint/New Construction, curated by Michael Patten and Suzanne Viot, Art Mûr, Montreal
Grants, Awards, and Scholarships
2023 Concept to Realization Grant - New/Early Career Artist, Canada Council for the Arts
2023 Visual Artists Creation Project Grant - Emerging Artist, Ontario Arts Council
2020 Research and Creation Grant - New/Early Career Artist, Canada Council for the Arts
2019 Ossington Public Exhibition Career Launcher, OCAD U Centre for Emerging Artists and Designers
2018 BMO 1st Art - Ontario Regional Award, Bank of Montreal
2018 Sculpture/Installation Program Medal, OCAD University
2018 Haydn Davies Memorial Award, OCAD University
2018 Nora E. Vaughan Award, OCAD University
2016 The Women’s Art Association of Canada - Mary Ella Dignam Scholarship, OCAD University
2013 Universal Studios Canada Scholarship in Filmmaking, Toronto Metropolitan University
2012 Universal Studios Canada Scholarship in Filmmaking, Toronto Metropolitan University
Residencies
2018 Roundtable Residency, Dragon Academy, Toronto
Writing
2020 “Shedding — Eduardo Basualdo,” Exhibition Text, Scrap Metal Gallery, Toronto
2019 “Living Throbbing Miscellanies (Loosely Framed,)” FrameWork: Katie Bethune-Leamen, Susan Hobbs Gallery, Toronto
2019 “Michelle Bellemare, Julia Dault, and Ragnar Kjartansson,” Muscled Rose Exhibition Text, Scrap Metal Gallery, Toronto
2019 “We should be dancing,” The Bald Eagle’s Claw Exhibition Publication, Xpace Cultural Centre, Toronto
2018 “The Quiet Resistance of Embedded Work”, OCAD U Journal of Visual Critical Studies, Toronto
2016 “Jettisons,” Modern Laundry, Toronto
Artist Talks and Readings
2023 We Should Be Dancing Radio, Forest City Gallery, London, ON
2017 Guest Reader, Writing in Dangerous Times Symposium, OCAD University, Toronto
2017 Artist Talk, The Women’s Art Association of Canada, Toronto
2016 Featured Reader, A-L-L-I-T-E-R-A-T-I-V-E : Student Readings, OCAD University, Toronto
2016 Guest Reader, FoLASS Reading Series, OCAD University, Toronto