Mickey Smith (US/NZ) is an award winning conceptual artist and photographer. For over two decades, her practice has been engaged with a longstanding inquiry into libraries, books and archives — in particular the social significance of their physical existence or disappearance.
Smith’s photography is a striking and poignant reflection of human history through her documentation of simple, provocative titles found on library shelves and most recently, second hand book stores around the world. Her work continuously explores the state of entropy within libraries, as we witness information systems shift, digitize and collections become deaccessioned.
In 2025 Smith won a Molly Morpeth Canaday Merit Award for her timely work, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. In 2022 her TIME & AGAIN series was exhibited in Venice at the European Cultural Centre. Smith’s largest-to-date public exhibition is currently touring the USA from Law Warschaw Gallery, St. Paul, Minnesota to the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, North Dakota to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Nebraska. The exhibition features several large scale installations as well as works from acclaimed projects Volume, Denudation, and As You Will: Carnegie Libraries of the South Pacific.
Smith’s work has been included in numerous exhibitions internationally, in Aotearoa and throughout USA. Her works belong to public and private collections including the Museum of Modern Art Library, North Dakota Museum of Art, Sheldon Museum of Art and Weisman Art Museum. She has received grants and awards from the McKnight Foundation, CEC Arts Link, Americans for the Arts and Creative New Zealand.
Mickey Smith holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Photography from Minnesota State University Moorhead (1994) and a Diploma in Jewellery Design from Hungry Creek Art & Craft School in New Zealand (2019). Mickey is an advocate for Harbour HoSpice Auckland and a founding artist member of Studio D3 in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckand.
Awards + Residencies
Molly Morpeth Canaday Merit Award 2025
Macalester College Artist-in-Residence, St. Paul, MN 2023-2024
Obscura Foundry Commission Award 2022
Creative New Zealand Grantee 2016, 2017
Public Art Year in Review, Americans for the Arts Project Winner 2010
PV Studio Residency, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico 2010
LMCC Manhattan Community Arts Fund Grantee 2009
Florida Pubic Art Permanent Commission Recipient, University of Florida 2009
CEC Artslink Artist-in-Residence, St. Petersburg, Russia 2008
Contemporary Art in Traditional Museums, St. Petersburg, Russia 2008
Society for Contemporary Photography Artist-in-Residence, Kansas City, MO 2007
Photolucida Top 150 Critical Mass Photographer 2006, 2007
FORECAST Public Artworks Public Art Affairs Grantee 2007
McKnight Foundation Artist Fellowship for Photography 2006
Oberholtzer Foundation Artist-in-Residence, Mallard Island, MN 1994-2004, 2007
PechaKeucha Auckland: The Real
We spend our days and nights in a world of concepts, intermediated by screens. We don't know what is true, but we need truth as a foundation to create from. So how do we keep our connection to The Real? As part of PKAKL #64, racing against the clock, Mickey Smith shares her work in 20 images x 20 seconds, and how she keeps it real. (This is probably as succinct as I’ll ever get about my process!)
Produced by PechaKeucha Auckland
Artist Talk, 2023 7:11 minutes
Solo Exhibitions
Morphologies Eisentrager Howard Gallery + Fiendish Plots, September 2025
Volume: Domesticated Sanderson Contemporary, NZ April 2025
Morphologies Plains Art Museum, Fargo, ND January 2025
Morphologies Law Warschaw Gallery, Saint Paul, MN 2024
Architettura CLAMP, New York, NY 2023
New Outlook Sanderson Contemporary, NZ 2022
Of Mind and Body Gallery Lulo, Healdsburg, CA 2022
Matters of Time Sanderson Contemporary, NZ 2020
Photographs by Mickey Smith Jasmax, Auckland, NZ 2017
Cultivate it as you will Te Tuhi, Auckland, NZ 2015
Harboured Enjoy Public Art Gallery, Wellington, NZ 2015
Denudation Invisible-Exports, New York, NY 2012
Tell You What Land of Tomorrow, Louisville, KY 2011
Believe You Me Invisible-Exports, New York, NY 2010
Collocations Georgia College State University Milledgeville, GA 2010
You People Invisible-Exports, New York, NY 2008
Volume Alvar Alto Library, Voyburg, Russia 2008
Contemporary Art in Traditional Museums PRO ARTE Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia 2008
New Collocations Center for Photography at Woodstock 2008
Forever Govern Ignorance Carleton College Gould Library, Northfield, MN 2007
New Works Kathy Dowell Art + Service, Kansas City, MO 2007
BIO Minnesota Center for Photography Projects Gallery, Minneapolis, MN 2006
Volume Open Book Gallery, Minneapolis, MN 2005
In the Stacks. Minnesota History Center, St. Paul, MN 2005
Volume The Post Office + Public Library, Cooperstown, ND 2004
That Must Be Really Interesting… The Artist
That Must Be Really Interesting… The Artist is the first in a series of short documentaries about people with fascinating jobs. This episode follows photographer Mickey Smith through the process of a book signing at MoMA PS1, installation at Invisible-Exports, and her Denudation exhibition opening in New York City in October 2012.
Produced and directed by The Happy Dagger
Video Documentary, 2012 6:29 minutes
Collections
Center for Photography at Woodstock, Woodstock, NY
Dorsey & Whitney, Minneapolis, MN
Fidelity Corporate Art Collection, Boston, MA
Fredrickson & Byron, Minneapolis, MN
Johns Hopkins Children's Center, Baltimore, MD
Macalester College, Saint Paul, MN
Miami-Dade Public Library, Miami, FL
Minnesota Historical Society, Saint Paul, MN
Plains Art Museum, Fargo, ND
Northland Collection, Saint Paul, MN
North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, ND
Sheldon Muesum of Art, Lincoln, NE
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, MN
Museum of Modern Art Library, New York, NY (publications)
The British Library, London, UK (publication)
The National Library of New Zealand (publication)
Jenny Metaverse DAO (NFT)
RAW DAO (NFT)
Group Exhibitions
2025 Bookings North Dakota Museum of Art
Molly Morpeth Canaday Award Whākatane Library + Exhibition Centre
Studio D3: Momentum Depot Artspace
2024 Banned Gordon Parks Gallery, Metropolitan State University
Summer + Winter Shows Veronique Wantz
2023 Banned Traffic Zone Center for Visual Arts
2022 Between Digital + Tangible The Billboard Creative Los Angeles
Obscura NFT Art Biennial European Cultural Centre Venice
2021 Summer Group Show Sanderson Contemporary
2020 Offsite Royal Jewellery Studio
2019 Summer Showcase Sanderson Contemporary
Graduate Exhibition Hungry Creek Art & Craft School
2018 As You Will Depot Artspace
2014 Requiem for the Bibliophile Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara
2013 A Different Kind of Order: The ICP Triennial Photobook Installation
International Center for Photography
50 Gifts for 50 Years Sheldon Museum of Art
2012 The Unseen Eye Blue Sky Gallery
Bloodyminded The Wye
2011 Library Science Artspace
Bibliomania Visual Art Center of New Jersey
TINA B. Prague Contemporary Art Festival
Book Report Bank of America Center
2010 Altered Appropriations Chapman Guggenheim Gallery
Method + Message Sonoma State University Art Gallery
Reader’s Delight McKenzie Fine Art
New Language Ogilvy & Mather
PQ:100 Center for Photography at Woodstock
2009 I’ve been meaning to tell you… Marty Walker Gallery
Summer Reading Jen Bekman Gallery
Artists Who Use Texts to Say Nice Things Aaron Krach
Circulation Gallery Knustler at Booksmart Studio
2008 Unabridged Traffic Zone Center for Visual Arts
2007 Wellbound Ellen Curlee Gallery
New Visual Language hpgrp gallery
McKnight Fellows: New Photography MN Center of Photography
Hey Hot Shot! Jen Bekman Gallery
Inscribire Chandra Cerrito Contemporary
The Library Show Firehouse No.13
2006 WORD Deborah Colton Gallery
Midwestern Views Pingyao International Photography Festival
New Works Gallery Silver Eye Center for Photography
Poster Offensive Frank Stone Gallery
2005 Correspondence Jon Oulman Gallery
Photocentric Biennial Minnesota Center for Photography
MN Biennial: 2D II Minnesota Museum of American Art
Visible Fringe Minnesota Fringe Festival
2004 Golf Pencil Accords Frank Stone Gallery
Art Fairs + Benefits
AIPAD Park Avenue Armory
Aotearoa Art Fair
Aperture Foundation
Art Chicago
Art Platform Los Angeles
Artspace Projects
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Center for Photography at Woodstock
Children's Museum of Art New York
Frankfurt Book Fair
Harbour HoSpice Vintner’s Brunch
Imag3Aid for Ukraine
Magenta Foundation for the Arts
Minnesota Center for Photography
NADA Art Fair: Miami & Cologne
The New York Art Book Fair
North Dakota Museum of Art
PULSE Miami
RAW DAO
SCOPE Miami
Silver Eye Center for Photography
Sydney Contemporary
VOLTA NY
The Watermill Center
Solo Publications
[Seeking Publisher] Volume with text by Louis Menand
Mickey Smith: Morphologies. Published by Macalester College 2024
As You Will: Carnegie Libraries of the South Pacific. Published by Te Tuhi 2018
Deundation. Mickey Smith with text by W.M. Hunt. Published by Hassla 2012