Gregg Smith’s work unfolds in layers, moving continuously between the inner psychic realm and immediate physical space. His mobiles, paintings and texts make use of techniques of cut-up and juxtaposition. These are subsequently integrated into performances incorporating voice and dance. Fluidity, humour and the unexpected are important ingredients in these activations. Daily trajectories are a constant meditation, with the desire to acknowledge the stimuli and impulses, coming to bear on the individual at a given point in time and space. In its most ambitious form, his artists’ initiative, Very Real Time uses relational art techniques and personal networks in combination with dance and video as means for building constructive collaborations and community resources. Very Real Time was founded in 2003, and the most recent iteration, FAR OUT - Atlantis, is developing in Cape Town, since 2018.
Following studies at the Michaelis School of Art (University of Cape Town), The Rijksakademie (Amsterdam) and Le Fresnoy (Tourcoing), his work is equally visible in contemporary art and cinema circuits. These include screenings and exhibitions at The Tate Modern (London), Videobrasil (Sao Paulo), Le Centre Pompidou (Paris), Rotterdam International Film Festival, Fundació Joan Miró (Barcelona), Krinzinger Gallery (Vienna), Le Plateau FRAC Ile-de-France (Paris), and the Dakar Biennale (Senegal). He has taught extensively in institutions, such as the Michaelis School of Art (Cape Town), ECAV (Switzerland), the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’architecture de Versailles and Paris College of Art.