Gwen Smith’s ‘The Chance Whale’ in Hyperallergic’s ‘Your Concise New York Art Guide for January 2023’

“The narrative works made during Gwen Smith’s recent Baxter Street residency portray an “origin story” — one in which the chance of encountering a “white whale” leads the artist to the precipice of personal freedom. A series of colorful, fluid mixed-media works incorporate towering blue ocean currents, images of slave ships, and themes from Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, as if Smith is herself surfing a wave of self-discovery. A meditation on the life cycle and the process of art-making, The Chance Whale conveys the thrill of the ride.”