SoVA Anderson Lecturer

Malcolm Mobutu Smith

Headshot of SoVA Anderson Lecturer 26-27 Malcolm Smith

Anderson Lecture – September 23, 2026

Artist and educator Malcolm Mobutu Smith lives and works in Bloomington, Indiana, where he is professor of ceramic art and director of graduate studies in the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design at Indiana University. He earned his master’s degree in ceramic art at the New York College of Ceramics at Alfred University and studied at both the Kansas City Art Institute and Penn State, where he earned his undergraduate degree in ceramic art.

Person shaping a large clay vessel on a workbench in a ceramics studio, surrounded by tools, sketches, and shelves of pottery.
Portrait of Malcolm Mobutu Smith wearing blue glasses and a hat in a ceramics studio, with pottery and shelving blurred in the background.
Person working on a large clay vessel in a ceramics studio, with worktables, shelves of pottery, and sculptural forms visible throughout the space.

Artist's Statement

Smith’s works in ceramic and drawing are guided by improvisationally merging volumetric form with graphic flatness.

Generally focusing on prompts from the history of vessels worldwide and pop culture derived imagery commonly landing as sculptures abstractly referring to cups, bottles and vases. Through these choices he enjoys the collocation of object and image via wheel thrown and hand-built methods. Motivated by a passion for the multi-faceted cultural phenomena of Hip Hop and Jazz, his works are guided by the intersections of musical impulse, graffiti art, and playful organic abstraction wherein, three-dimensional form acts as a vehicle for a direct means of drawing in space.