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David Brian Smith

Practice: painting

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One of the more surprising aspects of David Brian Smith's practice is its sheer stylistic scope; in the past few years his paintings have veered between various flavours of figuration, monochrome minimalism, gestural abstraction and just about everything in between.

Couple this with a recent predilection for variations on a single theme - the shepherd, his father's occupation - and it's clear that getting a handle on Smith's work is far from easy.

It's his latest paintings, however - vaguely reminiscent of works by various pre-war Slade School alumni - that have caught the London art scene pleasantly by surprise (Charles Saatchi and Tracey Emin, among others, have acquired key pieces).

Although, as mentioned, it's almost impossible to trace systematic lineage in Smith's back catalogue, colour has always been a consistent concern, and radiates through these newer works in subtly unexpected combination, from pastel shades that somehow surmount the twee, to vibrant, psychedelic hues.

Is Smith's restless experimentation likely to continue, or does his "new way of painting" finally provide a stylistic niche that suits both himself and a growing number of admirers?