They will appear alongside metal sculptures, drawings and digital prints exploring the many-armed conflicts taking place across the planet in the wake of political, economic and ideological disagreements between countries, corporations, political parties and religions. Having previously been exhibited at Ashish Balram Nagpal Gallery for Contemporary Art in Mumbai, India the action figures will appear as part of a series of installations in poses that serve as an indication of the impact of global violence, whilst others are placed in situations reminiscent of the torture suffered by the prisoners of war such as the terror suspects detained in Abu Ghraib prison.

Although some of the work will remain the same Smith expects the mood amongst the general public to be a lot calmer than when the work appeared in India. When referring to the opening in Mumbai he said, “There were hundreds of people there and everyone wanted to ask me a question. They were interested in why I was there, what I’d done and how I did it. I was right on the front line and became a voice to the work, which was really interesting and challenging.”

He hopes that the presence of the action men will spark the same level of enthusiasm amongst Derbyshire’s art-loving community admitting, “I realised that it doesn’t happen in England very much. So I’m looking at ways of potentially provoking a dialogue and a discussion and creating some form of social interaction so that the people who visit the exhibition can articulate some ideas with me afterwards.”

Although he trained as a painter, Smith regards himself as a sculptor using any medium to fit the criteria. This often consists of recycling discarded objects to give them a new purpose, which is something of a rarity in a society that he describes as having a, “throw-away culture”. This trend is evident in his 2009 installation Fanny, where, whilst working as part of the International Artist Residency Sandarbh UK he bought 19 electric fans from a Woolworths closing down sale and placed them next to a weather beaten tree in the Derbyshire Dales creating the impression that the breeze generated by them had resulted in the tree leaning to one side.

The presence of the action men installations and the Penny Black digital print series is further evidence of his willingness to create new meanings for objects, but is something that helps differentiate this from many of his previous exhibitions, is that it features work that has been exhibited before.

Although the Museum and Art Gallery has commissioned much of the work on display, on the whole it has given him a break from creating site-specific work. He said, “It was a way of looking at several strands of my work that I’ve exhibited in different places and bringing them together as a larger body of work that both I and the audience could explore in a bit more detail.”

Along with travelling, Smith is heavily influenced by current affairs, both technological and political, stating, ”I’m interested in how we are manipulated and I think now, we’re manipulated from a much earlier age.” Investigating the idea of manipulation and the role of the Internet culminated in the creation of the Penny Black series in 2008. Here Smith took images revealing the extent of the Iraq conflict from the Internet leaving them the same size and resolution as he found them. He then duplicated them to create a repeated pattern on a large scale deliberately placing one of the images upside down, which is used to draw in the viewer from a distance revealing the full extent of the catastrophe of the war on the victims.

When talking about the project he was quick to praise the growth of the Internet insisting there’s more to come, “I think a new way of working is being developed by young artists through the Internet. You can find out about scholarships, internships, exhibitions, commissions at the touch of a button, which is what I used to have to do through writing to arts magazines and going to exhibitions. I think that artists are using the web more as a tool to develop their work. You saw in my studio I work with whatever material that interests me and the Internet is part of that already. I think that the next generation of artists will really take that to the next stage.”

Although the presence of an artist that has exhibited all over the world, in the city shows that the art movement in Derby is heading in the right direction Smith concedes that it hasn’t reached its potential just yet and would like to see the city retain more of its art students once they finish their studies. However, he did back plans to use Joseph Wright as a branding tool for the city believing it would lead to greater interest in the cities art scene from outside Derbyshire, “I think that you use everything that is positive to your advantage. Joseph Wright’s reputation is national and international. Some people think that looking back at the past is insignificant because you want to be going forward, but I think that you can use things from the past that were significant to enhance your reputation to allow you to move forward into the future and do more dynamic things.”

Those wanting to discuss the ideas presented in the exhibition further are encouraged to attend both the preview on the 6th of May from 5.00pm until 7.00pm and the talk Ivan will be holding at the Museum & Art Gallery on 19th May, something the artist believes would be beneficial to the upcoming practitioners in the region, “I want people to realise that getting together in large groups to talk about art, maybe going out for a drink afterwards and continuing the discussion is where the energy is. If people start doing that regularly and going to places like Quad and the Museum and being challenged by stuff, that’s where new seeds start to develop, which is why I want to get a young audience to the Museum and Art Gallery.”

Those wishing to find out more about Ivan Smith and details of further exhibitions can do so at:

www.ivansmith.info