The Ritz Herald
Leon Polk Smith: Hiding in Plain Sight" installation view. © Craig Smith / Heard Museum

Heard Museum Opens Original Exhibition Leon Polk Smith: Hiding in Plain Sight


From February 5 through May 31, 2021

Published on February 03, 2021

The newest original exhibition from the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, Leon Polk Smith: Hiding in Plain Sight, will explore the influence of American Indian creative expression on the work of iconic artist Leon Polk Smith from Friday, February 5 through Monday, May 31.

Smith is a celebrated modernist painter and leader of the Hard-edge painting movement, an art form of the late 1950s and ’60s that emphasizes geometric forms and bright colors.

This is the largest exhibition of Smith’s paintings in more than 25 years and features 37 original works that span seven decades. The exhibition pairs Smith’s paintings and works on paper with examples of American Indian beadwork, ribbon applique and painted hides from his native Oklahoma.

The Heard Museum is located at 2301 N. Central Ave. in Phoenix, Arizona.

A fully illustrated catalog with new scholarship is available.

Newsdesk Editor