Matt Smiley is a versatile artist and filmmaker celebrated for his vibrant, thematic paintings that fuse automatic writings, vivid color, and imaginative characters. His practice extends beyond the canvas into documentary filmmaking, where he investigates social issues with the same visual intensity he brings to his art.

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In 2014 Smiley gained critical attention with the documentary Highway of Tears, a harrowing portrait of the missing women along Highway 16 in northern British Columbia. Narrated by Nathan Fillion, the film premiered at the TIFF Human Rights Watch Film Festival, earned multiple awards, and screened internationally.

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He entered the contemporary art scene with his first solo exhibition, Dreams Fizzle into Space (2017), which featured a 32‑piece “Smiley” soup‑can series that paid homage to Warhol while asserting a bold, personal visual language. The following year his work Lessons in History was presented at the LA Art Show, and he subsequently showed at The Other Art Fair (Brooklyn) and the Aspen Institute. His Instagram‑viral mural Blocs of Love in downtown further demonstrated his ability to merge narrative and visual form.

 

In 2019 the Magic Box Gallery at the Mondrian Hotel hosted a solo presentation of his evolving practice. Parallel to his painting, Smiley directed For Love, a documentary examining Indigenous child welfare in Canada, narrated by Shania Twain and released on Netflix in Canada and Amazon in the United States and the United Kingdom.

 

In 2024 he unveiled the large‑scale media‑wall installation “It’s in the Cloud” as part of the exhibition LOVE, NOSTALGIA, & THE TEMPEST OF MY MIND at the 1 Hotel West Hollywood. The work featured a dynamic lighting show created in collaboration with Burbank‑based entertainment‑lighting provider Volt, translating Smiley’s nostalgic visual language into an immersive sensory experience.

 

Smiley’s paintings have been shown alongside Ed Ruscha, James Turrell, and Shepard Fairey, and his projects have been supported by institutions such as the Aspen Institute and the Mondrian Hotel. He is an active supporter of humanitarian causes, including Human Rights Watch, UNICEF, TreePeople, and numerous community organizations.

 

He recently concluded his first New York solo exhibition, TIME TO BE SMILEY, which introduced his color‑driven storytelling to an East‑Coast audience. Smiley is represented by Denis Bloch Fine Art in Beverly Hills.