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Weary Family Foundation

Beach Museum of Art
Kansas State University
701 Beach Lane,
Manhattan, KS 66506
(14th & Anderson Ave.)

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Shirley Smith, Soft Landing, 1970, Acrylic on unbleached muslin and acrylic on stone, 66 x 89 x…
Soft Landing
Shirley Smith, Soft Landing, 1970, Acrylic on unbleached muslin and acrylic on stone, 66 x 89 x…
Shirley Smith, Soft Landing, 1970, Acrylic on unbleached muslin and acrylic on stone, 66 x 89 x 66 inches, Kansas State University, Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, gift of the estate of Shirley Smith, 2014.70

Soft Landing

Artist (United States, 1929 - 2013)
Date1970
MediumAcrylic on unbleached muslin and acrylic on stone
DimensionsSUPPORT: 66 x 89 in. (167.6 x 226.1 cm)
Object TypePaintings
Credit LineKSU, Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, gift of the estate of Shirley Smith
Object number2014.70
On View
Not on view
Description
• Smith created the textured look of Soft Landing by crinkling muslin on the floor and spray painting the layers. The ovoid object, bottom center, is painted stone.

• She often created her art using everyday materials such as house paint, construction paper, tape, and discarded items.
• Active in New York City beginning in the 1950s, Smith was one of the few women artists creating abstract, large-scale art in a movement dominated by men.

• By creating a painting in the shape of a triangle and placing the work in a corner instead of flat on a wall, Smith joined other contemporary artists in questioning why paintings should be two-dimensional and have four straight sides.

• The artist has written about the work: “My intention was to create a bigger than life[,] vast expansive experience[,] subjectively spiritual.”