Overview
- Erin Goldberger, director of Half Gallery, confirmed Smith’s death late Tuesday, and multiple outlets reported the news on September 8, 2026.
- Authorities and Smith’s representatives have not released any information about the cause or location of his death.
- Smith rose quickly after graduating Cooper Union in 2011 and became known for his “Rain” paintings, which he made by spraying acrylic from fire extinguishers; several of those works fetched six‑figure sums at auction, including a Phillips sale of $389,000 in 2013.
- After stepping away from commercial galleries around 2014–2015, Smith founded the nonprofit Serving the People and later reopened the artist-run restaurant Food to create jobs and venues for emerging creatives in downtown New York.
- Reports say he had resumed studio work using a modified industrial airbrush and was to show new Rain paintings at Tripoli Gallery, a plan the gallery now says it will revisit with his family and could delay, a development that deepens the loss felt by the downtown artist community.