Harold Smith, a self-taught artist from Kansas City, Kansas, is gaining national recognition for his unique approach to reimagining iconic artworks by replacing traditional subjects with people from his own neighborhood. His latest exhibition, "Around the Way Folk, Saints in Uncommon Places," is currently on display at the Mulvane Art Museum on the Washburn University campus in Topeka, Kansas, showcasing his distinctive "Blacktacularized" interpretations of famous paintings.

Working from his home studio just off State Avenue, Smith begins each day mixing metallic pearl-tinted paints on his palette, creating vibrant reinterpretations of masterpieces like Grant Wood's "American Gothic," Johannes Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring," and Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper." "I've got to be careful in the morning," Smith admits with a laugh, "More than once I've accidentally taken a sip of my paint water instead of my coffee, not paying attention."

Smith's artistic philosophy centers on making classical art more relatable to his community. "All these paintings have stories and narratives that we can relate to, and not just we, but the community I grew up in and people that are around me, can relate to," he explains. His work serves as both an exploration of people he considers saints and an examination of Black, blue-collar communities. "I still live in the same one I grew up in, and it's an examination of the culture that still exists there," Smith notes.

The artist's signature style, which he calls "Blacktacularization," employs high-voltage hues and expressive brushstrokes applied primarily with a palette knife. Smith describes this approach as his attempt to make the most out of what he calls a bad situation – to make lemonade out of lemons. "The rapper Tupac, in his song 'Dear Mama,' said 'Mama took the little she was given and created miracles every Thanksgiving,'" Smith references. "And to me, Blacktacularization is when you apply Black culture to different things. Like you apply it to food, you get soul food, you apply it to popular music, you had the blues."

At the Mulvane Art Museum, Smith's three large panels of "The Last Supper: Blacktacularized" command an entire wall, with many of the apostles' faces based on his friends and neighbors. Museum Interim Director Sara Stepp was drawn to Smith's bold reframing of familiar works. "Harold has always been interested in Black representation and Black experience and he is asking a really, I think, interesting question: What would these works look like if instead of the traditional white protagonists, they instead had Black subjects?" Stepp observes.

Stepp emphasizes that Smith's paintings shine a spotlight on people who have often been excluded from art. "His works are about Black American identity, usually Black American male identity, and he wants you to witness that experience in full color," she explains. "He wants you to see the good and the bad, the painful and the hopeful in those stories that he shares." The curator notes that Smith offers a pointed perspective in his paintings, forcefully inserting Black figures into classical works while transforming the original style, keeping mostly the original composition intact.

Smith's artistic achievements have garnered both local and national recognition. In 2022, he received a Charlotte Street Visual Arts Award and a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant. He was selected for the Art Omi International Artists Residency Program in 2023. Locally, his work has been exhibited at prestigious venues including The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Lawrence Arts Center.

The exhibition features several of Smith's "Blacktacularized" works, including his interpretations of "Girl with a Pearl Earring" and "American Gothic," as well as "Blacktacularized Caravaggio (Self Portrait of the Artist with the Head of Goliath)," based on a painting by the Italian artist Caravaggio created between 1606-1607. Smith will discuss his work at a gallery talk scheduled for Tuesday, September 16, at 5:30 p.m. The exhibition "Around the Way Folk: Saints in Uncommon Places" runs through November 1, 2025, at The Mulvane Art Museum, located at 1700 SW Jewell Ave, Topeka, KS 66621.