With all the rancor and controversy surrounding this year’s Beijing Olympics, it’s easy to forget that the Games are supposed to be about international cooperation. But that’s a principle which Mark T. Smith, official artist of this year’s U.S. Olympic team, holds dear. In the years after he graduated from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn in 1990, Smith has built a name for himself with commissioned work for PT Cruiser, MTV, Absolut Vodka, Pepsi, and many other major corporations, creating colorful paintings that have the immediacy and popular appeal of a Keith Haring. But he’s much more than a commercial artist, and with thirteen solo exhibitions and nineteen group shows under his belt, including a pair of appearances at Art Basel Miami, Smith has the best of both worlds. One of his few recent corporate commissions is his print for the U.S. Olympic Committee, which provides evidence of both his vibrant, complex style and his desire to foster global unity. Smith took the bold step of eschewing the iconic five rings in favor of a bright blue dragon that signifies openness and acceptance between the West and East. He knows the painting isn’t going to change the world by itself, but here’s hoping it does its part. On the eve of his departure for Beijing, Smith took time to speak with VMAN.

What exactly does being the official artist of the U.S. Olympic team entail?

It entails painting the actual painting, which is used for posters and reproduced as limited editions, and then making personal appearances and doing poster signings and gallery openings and promotional activities on behalf of the Olympics and myself.

What was the selection process like?

The Olympic Committee became aware of my work through my agents that I have, and asked if I was interested in participating. I said yes, and submitted about five sketches. From those five, there was one that I was really leaning towards. After I explained why, they approved that sketch, then I finished it and they approved it again. There was no input in terms of content. They’re very careful about what they attach their name to, so the process was mainly just to make sure that everything was cool and that I had an understanding of their needs.

Can you tell me a little bit about the thought process behind the work that you did?

The concept behind the painting itself was based on the day that the Chinese had selected to start the Games, the eighth of August, 2008. Because in their numerology eight is the luckiest number, that date, eight-eight-eight, is extremely good luck for them. So I decided to make the image about luck, and since there were the three eights—the day, the month, and the year—I had to combine three elements in the painting that were good luck. To that end, I used the eights as one element; the dragon, which is good luck in China, as the second element; and then the background is primarily red, which is a color of good luck, so it’s the three elements tied together. But the image is really simple, and I constructed a really simple image because I wanted it to translate into all cultures and all languages and all visual vocabularies without a lot of explanation.

Do you think your work with this sort of Chinese imagery and symbolism is going to affect the art that you produce in the future?

I’m certain that the trip will influence me. I tend to do a lot of reportage and a lot of drawing wherever I go, so I’m sure I’ll come back with some really interesting imagery.

The funny thing about this commission is how I ended up with the dragon. It was this weird, serendipitous event. A friend of mine gave me a giant, green dragon candle a few months ago. It was one of those gifts where you’re kind of like, “I don’t know why you thought I would like this, but thanks.” I didn’t want to throw it away, so I brought it up to my studio. It just sat there for a week, and then one night I just started doing drawings of it and that led to a couple dragon paintings. Then those paintings became the foundation for the image for the Olympics. It worked out really well, since I got the commission two months later.

What would you say you’re trying to express through this work?

The work was specifically apolitical, and I wanted something that would combine the American culture and the American experience with the Chinese culture and experience. I combined those things in the most simplistic way, taking into consideration my audience, to build a bridge between the countries. I created something that was specifically not patriotic and not overtly about the Games. I wanted to transcend all of that and just for the piece to be a conversation about how two cultures come together and find common qualities.

What do you think about the politicization of these Games, with the massive protests and the calls for a boycott?

When I accepted the commission Steven Spielberg was the artistic director, and there was a lot of hope that this could be a period where the Chinese could join the larger global community using these Games as a gateway. Of course, as time has gone on, like most regimes that are set up the way they are, they have tended to retreat into their bad behavior when confronted by the outside world. But for all the planning and for all the thought that went into getting the Games, and the brilliant architecture that was built for the Games, you’d think they would have hired a PR person to help them out along that rocky road. It puts me in an unusual circumstance, because I patently don’t believe in boycotting and I definitely do believe in dialogue, because I feel that the only way to move any agenda forward is by talking about it. That way, even if you find only one thing that you agree about, time goes by and you can find another and you can start moving forward slowly. I think also that it’s a sticky situation because it is an internal matter, even though the world’s spotlight is on it. I also think it’s a little tough for the United States to claim the moral high ground right now on things of that nature. That said, I also think that people’s expectations of how the Chinese would act and should act is a little bit off-base. If you look at the Chinese in the larger historical context, they’re a society that is very much evolutionary and not revolutionary, with the exception of a couple events, and they do things at a very measured, slow pace. I think the world needs to take a step back and recognize that there’s not going to be this 180-degree turnaround, and have a little bit of patience about how these things come about. Even the Dalai Lama, coming from that culture, recognizes that things happen slowly and you have to be patient. That doesn’t mean that you put any less pressure on them, but you have to be thoughtful and think about this like a long-term campaign and not just a short-term fix.

You mentioned that you saw these Games as an opportunity to open up a dialog. Do you see your art playing an important role in that exchange?

Yes, in that it’s allowed me a platform to speak about these issues, especially because I’m not primarily a political- or social activist-type artist. I have lots of opinions about things; I just don’t usually put them in my paintings, and this commission gives me a chance to speak about these matters. I think that art is also important in that it opens doors and allows you to start a conversation about something that is not related to politics, and then you can talk about other things in addition to the paintings. America’s greatest strength in terms of getting other people to modernize—for lack of a better word—is its culture. Our culture is just so strong. We might have the de facto most powerful military, but we also have the de facto most powerful culture, good or bad. There’s a power to that, and my painting is part of that culture. In that regard, it has an impact.

Who are your influences as an artist?

Travel is my primary influence. Everywhere I go, I look at the culture and the artists that are indigenous to that place, whether it’s Ireland or England or, in this case, China. I look for those Jungian, universal visuals, and I try to draw them into my own work so that it can speak on a more universal level. In terms of specific artists, I enjoy all different artists for different reasons, but if I were going to cash in and actually buy something to hang in my house, I’d probably buy a Gauguin. I just love his work; I find it really magical, and there’s just something really wonderful about his palette.

He did a good job combining two cultures as well.

That’s absolutely true, and I love that he served as a little emissary out into the world and brought that world back to France. I find his work really inspirational. He was really productive; for a short, active period of time, he painted a lot of works. There are other artists that have crossed into different media that I really admire too. I’ve always been a huge fan of Ray Charles, because he had a career that spanned many, many decades, and went from jazz to pop to country. He touched every kind of imaginable outlet in music, including commercials, but I think you always know it’s Ray Charles. He could play any kind of song and you’d know it was him. I find his work ethic and dedication to his art really inspirational. I also tend to like a lot of the modern masters, like Picasso and Matisse. With regards to the new stuff, there’s a lot of great new work out there too, and I tend to be drawn to stuff that has drawing and painting involved rather than stuff that’spurely conceptual.

How do you think your corporate work relates to the other work you’ve done?

They’re hand-in-hand. I think that’s a good reason to bring up Ray Charles, because if I make something for a client, I make it with the same care and attention and love and passion with which I make stuff for myself or stuff for a collector. It all comes from the same place inside me. I’ve been fortunate because what I do is so specific and so identifiable that people tend to come to me because that’s what they want. I have very specific reasons when I try to decide whether or not to work with someone. I tend to pick stuff that’s public because I like my work to get out there and touch people. Only a really small segment of the population appreciates the gallery scene and the museum scene, and I believe that art has a function to ennoble the public, and in order to do that it has to get in front of the public. I look for opportunities like the Olympics or the Absolut campaign or the PT Cruiser project because I think that not only can I control the content, but I can get my work in front of people who wouldn’t ordinarily be able to experience it, and that’s really important to me.

Image courtesy of the artist

KEYWORDS: art, China, Olympics, sports