Multimedia artist, Shinique Smith, activated the Studio Museum Project Space with Like it Like that, an installation designed specially for the gallery. A Frequency alum known for her practice spanning sculptures made of clothing, collage on walls and paper, painting and drawing, Smith creates colorful works that tread the lines between accumulation and loss, containment and scatter, legibility and scribble.

Created by Smith like an improvisational dance, Like it Like that joins the explosive energy of graffiti writing with the spontaneity of Abstract Expressionist painting. Though evoking an urban street scene from afar, upon closer inspection one realizes the mural is saturated with personal effects, especially from the artist’s youth. Thus, the gallery reflected less a public space and more an intimate retreat from authority and a shrine to all things “cool” that obsess modern youth. Accessible through the Main Gallery and adjacent to the new auditorium, the Project Space is a dynamic gallery dedicated to site-specific works and other projects and installations.