Taylor Alaina Liebenstein Smith
(She/her)
Address: Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo, Fossveien 24, 0551 Oslo
Floor: 4
The studio is open Saturday 26 April from 12-17
Taylor Alaina Liebenstein Smith (b. 1993) is an American, French-naturalized visual artist working at the poetic intersections between analog and biological media. She collaborates with scientists, poets, dancers and other species in attempt to deconstruct perceived boundaries between scientific and artistic knowledge through affect and attunement to more-than-human entities. She is currently completing her MFA at the Kunstakademiet i Oslo, and holds an MA in Cultural Mediation from the École du Louvre in Paris, as well as a BFA and a BA in Art History from Boston University. Her works have been exhibited in Norway, France, Finland, Germany, Spain and the U.S. including at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Galerie Sono, Le 6b and Mémoire de l’Avenir in Paris and MUSTARINDA and the KulttuuriKauppila Art Centre in Finland. She is also a member of the Finnish Bioart Society and her works have joined the French National Collections.
video, sound, photography, installation, bioart, printmaking, sculpture
A feeling of longing that freezes and thaws, 2025, 16mm film still
A familiar veil, video and sound installation, Kunstakademiet i Oslo, 2024
A feeling of longing that freezes and thaws, 2025, slide projector installation of permafrost samples
A clear cut (we are unmade), 2022, 6:56, video-poem made in collaboration with Christopher Alexander Kostritsky Gellert
Planned projects and exhibitions
A feeling of longing that freezes and thaws, Atelier Nord, Oslo, solo exhibition, 7-23 mars, 2025
becoming-Fluid: A Theater of Worlds : online publication and group exhibition with NOBA (Norwegian Bioart Arena), Oslo, 2025-2026
CV
EXHIBITIONS:
SOLO
A familiar veil, Kunstakademiet i Oslo, Norway, Feb. 2024
Printing Through the Landscape, KulttuuriKauppila Art Centre, Ii, Finland, May 19-26, 2021.
How to Capture Flow, Fondation des États-Unis, Paris, France, January 10-31 2019
Symbiosis, Fondation des Etats-Unis, Paris, France, March 8- 31 2018
Végétal / Cérébral : du vivant à l’objet, Colegio de España, Paris, France, February 8- 28, 2018
GROUP
Systemet, Royal Flush Gallery, Oslo, Norway, Nov. 7, 2023. Curated by Kim Henning Andreassen
Inaugural exhibition, Studio Bioinspire-Muséum, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France, October 7-13, 2023
Transistorfestivalen, Montebello Kulturhus, Oslo, Norway, September 2, 2023
Habiter l’autre rive, Galerie Mémoire de l’Avenir, Paris, France, November 11- December 3 2022. Co-curated by Margalit Beret, Ashley Molco-Costello and Christopher Gellert
Circades, Le 6b, Saint-Denis, France. Group exhibition curated by Espace fine curatorial collective. September 15-October 6, 2022
Amphibies, POUSH Manifesto, Clichy, France, February 5- March 16, 2022. Curated Marítima ’01.
Fragments., Galerie Sono, Paris, November 19- December 18, 2021. Curated by Hélène Geber and Ainhoa Bourgeois.
Semer, tracer, cligner des yeux, le 6b, Saint-Denis, France, June 26- October 30, 2021. Curated by Pauline Lisowski.
Peaux, Parures, Empreintes, Ar(mue)res, La Visitation, Brioude, France, Aug 20- Sept. 30, 2021. Curated by Mathilde Leïchlé
Mare nostrum: fragili vita, November 15 2020- January 31, 2021, Marítima ‘01: online. Curated by Marítima ’01.
Jeunes Pousses, 5 rue Jacques Callot 75006, Paris. Curated by Muriel Fagnoni and Julia Gai, December 4-20, 2020
Végétal, in-situ outdoor sculpture exhibition, Fête des plantes, Parc du Château de Chavaniac-Lafayette, France. Curated by Hugues Séguda, July 18- September 20 2020
MIND Foundation Symposium on Consciousness Culture, Berlin, Germany, September 4-6 2020. Curated by EDGE Art and Neuroscience association.
L’été du 6b, exhibition and sale for the association MaMaMa, le 6b, Saint-Denis, curated by Marie Mendes, July 3- Sept 19, 2020
Edge: Blurring the Boundaries Between Art and Neuroscience, Charité Crossover (CCO) and Heizkraftwerk Steglitz, Berlin. Curated by the EDGE association. July 25-28, 2019
Constellation(s), Le 6b, Saint-Denis, France, curated by Nathalie Borowski and Luca Nicolao, May 2019
Artists Need to Create on the Same Scale That Society Has the Capacity to Destroy: Mare Nostrum, Venice Biennale, participative performance with Tomas Vu and Rirkrit Tiravanija. Curated by Phong Bui and Francesca Pietro Paolo, organized by the Brooklyn Rail, May 2019
Faut-il des femmes dans l’art ?, inauguration of the association Caractères, Galerie Au Médicis, Paris, France, February 2019. Curated by Bianca de Sangro.
“Squaring the Circle: Harriet Hale Woolley, Past & Present”, Fondation des États-Unis, Paris, France. Curated by Maureen O’Leary and Tali Gai. June 7- July 31 2018
Processus, Le Nucléus, Ivry-sur-seine, France, April 2017
Paysages Intérieurs, Galerie de la Fondation des Etats-Unis, Paris, France, January 2017
Atlas Flow mural project, Asociación Atlas, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, July 2016
Emmène-moi ailleurs, Black Trombone, Paris, France, June 2016 (organized by the Association ParticipAction)
4th National Monotype and Monoprint Exhibition, Monotype Guild of New England, Attleboro Arts Museum, Attleboro, Massachusetts, April 6- May 7, 2016
L’interprétation de la forme: de la peinture à travers la danse à la photographie, Galerie de la Fondation des Etats-Unis, Paris, April 6- May 5, 2016
Demonstration Drawings, exhibition and workshop with Rirkrit Tirivanija, Musée du Louvre, Paris, October – November, 2015
Off the Wall: A small works show, The Umbrella Arts Gallery, Boston, MA, November 23, 2015 – January 8, 2016
The Color of Thin Air, Sculpture Fix, Online Exhibition at www.sculpturefix.com, June 1 – July 15, 2015
RESIDENCIES
STATION DE BIOLOGIE MARINE, MUSEUM NATIONAL D’HISTOIRE NATURELLE, Concarneau, France (Jan 2022- Sep 2023)
ATELIER NORD, Oslo, Norway, May 15-21, 2023
MUSTARINDA, Hyrynsalmi, Finland, May 3-30 2022
LE 6B, Saint-Denis, France, February 2019- September 2022
ARS BIOARCTICA (The Bioart Society), Kilpisjärvi Biological Station, Finland, March 27- April 30
KULTTUURIKAUPPILA ART CENTRE, Ii, Finland, April 30- June 15
MARÍTIMA ’01, online, June 2020
SOURCES, Les Halles du Faubourg, Lyon, France, March 2020
L’ENTRE-DEUX, Pantin, France, November 2018- February 2019
LA FONDATION DES ÉTATS-UNIS, Paris, France (see Grants/Awards), 2017-2018
ASSOCIACIÓN ATLAS, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, July 2016
RECENT PRESS, TALKS & WORKSHOPS
becoming-Fluid: A Theater of Worlds, online publication, 2025
CLUVEX (Climate University for Virtual Exchanges) Climate Moderator, University of Helsinki, Oct. 2024
Words and Worlds: Languages and Ecologies Symposium, Royal Holloway- University of London, March 3, 2024
A familiar veil : the microorganisms that carry our memories, makery.fr, Paris, France, Nov. 6 2023
A familiar veil, roscosmoe.org, Roscoff, France, Nov. 7 2023
Fête de la science, conference & screening of A familial veil, Studio éphémère Bioinspire-Muséum, Galerie de botanique, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France, Oct. 7 2023
Marinarium, Concarneau, France – microperformative workshop series for A familiar veil, 14/4 and 28/9, 2023
Habiter l’autre rive, exhibition catalogue, Galerie Mémoire de l’Avenir, Nov. 11- Dec. 2 2022
Down to Earth: The Mapping Session, Bioart Society, Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland: selected participant for soil chromatography workshop led by Sirja Moberg and Aino Johansson, Oct. 31 – Nov. 1, 2022
The moon is an upside-down place, video work published in Humanities Arts & Society magazine, 5th edition: Spaces and Places. Article “Place and the Self” by Forrest Clingerman
EARTH as Event. Galerie Mémoire de l’Avenir, Paris, France. A UNESCO project, année France-Portugal. Presentation with artist collective Tramages, June 17, 2022
Talents Contemporains : les finalistes, 11ème édition. Catalogue. Fondation François Schneider, Wattwiller, France, 2022
“Exposition collective et ode à la nature : « Semer, tracer, cligner des yeux »” by Marie Constant, Untitled Mag, Aug. 17, 2021
“A Brioude, des œuvres d’art en peaux de poissons et latex d’arbre à la chapelle de la Visitation” by Géraldine Garcia, La Montagne, Aug. 20, 2021
Masterclass in yeastograms and alternative photography led by Taylor Smith, KulttuuriKauppila Art Centre, Ii, Finland, May 2021
“En Direct / Galerie Ephémère Quand Les Fleurs Nous Sauvent – Muriel Fagnoni X Julia Gai” par Ilaria Greta De Santis, Point Contemporain Revue #19
Rencontre Art & Science, Marítima ‘01, GoodPlanet Foundation, October 17, 2020. Presentation of Marítima artists Enrique Ramírez, Marco Godinho, Yann Toma and Taylor Smith
Marítima ‘01 : Selected Projects, exhibition catalogue, published October 2020
“Végétal : une exposition dans le parc de Chavaniac-Lafayette : découverte d’un lieu et de trois artistes”, Pauline Lisowski, Le Corridor de l’art, September 3, 2020
“L’exposition Végétal invite à la contemplation et la réflexion”, Christophe Teyssier, Le Progrès, July 20, 2020
“Des végétaux monumentaux au château”, Antoine Michelet, L’Éveil de la Haute Loire, July 18, 2020
GRANTS / AWARDS
Rewilding Cultures mobility grant laureate, supported by the European Union, Makery (FR) and Bioart Society (FI), 2023
Talents Contemporains finalist, Fondation François Schneider, Wattwiller, France, 2022
Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship, grant and residency, Fondation des États-Unis, Paris, France, 2017-2018
Jack Kramer Memorial Award and scholarship for painting, Boston University, 2014-2015
Living Room Host, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, Massachusetts, 2013
ASSOCIATIONS
Member, Bioart Society, Helsinki, Finland since May 2022
Member, Collectif Tramages , Paris, France, since January 2022
Member, Le 6b, Saint-Denis, France since February 2019
Member, Atelier Bo Halbirk, Paris, France since September 2018
COLLECTIONS
French National Collections: Bibliothèque du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris France
Several private collections: Tokyo, Paris, London, New York, Boston, Dallas, Rochester (NY)
Public collections: Fondation des Etats-Unis, Atelier Bo Halbirk, Colegio de España, all Paris, France; Asociación Atlas, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, Boston University School of Visual Arts, Boston, USA.
EDUCATION
Kunstakademiet i Oslo, Oslo, Norway, Master of Fine Arts, August 2023- June 2025
École du Louvre, Paris, France: Master of Arts in Cultural Mediation, September 2017
Boston University, Boston, USA: Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting, College of Fine Arts; Bachelor of Arts in Art History, College of Arts and Sciences, both May 2015
Courtauld Institute of Art, London, United Kingdom, 10-12/2014 (semester exchange program in Art History)