Barbara T. Smith (b. 1931) is an important figure in the history of feminist and performance art in Southern California. Her work—which spans media and often involves her own body—explores themes of sexuality, traditional gender roles, physical and spiritual sustenance, technology, communication, love, and death.
Smith received a BA from Pomona College in 1953, and an MFA in 1971 from the University of California, Irvine. There she met fellow artists Chris Burden and Nancy Buchanan, with whom she co-founded F-Space in Santa Ana, the experimental art space where many of her performances were staged.
Smith’s work has been exhibited since the 1960s, and featured in group exhibitions including WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2007); State of Mind: New California Art Circa 1970, Orange County Museum of Art, Santa Ana; and Bronx Museum of Art, New York (2011–2013). Smith is the recipient of the Civitella Ranieri Visual Arts Fellowship, Umbria, Italy (2014); Durfee Foundation’s Artists’ Resource for Completion (2005, 2009); Women’s Caucus for Art, Lifetime Achievement Award (1999); and several National Endowment for the Arts Grants (1973, 1974, 1979, 1985).
