{"id":1947594,"date":"2026-05-21T13:45:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T10:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1947594"},"modified":"2026-05-21T13:45:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T10:45:00","slug":"aurel-schmidt-the-art-world-antagonist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1947594","title":{"rendered":"Aurel Schmidt: The Art World Antagonist"},"content":{"rendered":"
Aurel Schmidt: The Art World Antagonist<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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The trash-talking, horned-up world of Aurel Schmidt is as interesting as her inimitable illustration practice. After almost two decades of success outside the institutional gallery system, she\u2019s still got more to say.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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WORDS BY ZACH SOKOL \nPHOTOS BY WILLIAM STROBECK<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
This article originally appeared in Hypebeast Magazine #37: The Architects Issue<\/em>. Order a copy via HBX.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Aurel Schmidt\u2019s favorite pill to draw is a rainbow-colored pressed Fentanyl tablet, stamped with an \u201cM\u201d mimicking the Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals logo that appears on legit 30mg Oxycodones. The bootleg street drug is rendered in hyper-detailed colored pencil. Beside it sits branded cellophane coke baggies, candy wrappers, cigarette butts, beer caps, and other illicit ephemera. It\u2019s the detritus of \u201cdesire,\u201d as she refers to the materials, all assembled into one of the artist\u2019s signature \u201cTrash Dolls.\u201d The work is beautiful, meticulous, and transgressive in a way that\u2019s quintessentially Schmidt: equal parts seductive and self-aware, pretty and punk, high art and lowbrow humor.<\/p>\n
For nearly two decades, the New York-based artist has operated outside of the traditional gallery representation system, selling directly to collectors, building a devoted following online, and cultivating a career that bridges the art world, fashion, music, and street culture. Her work is instantly recognizable: intricate drawings rendered in ballpoint pen and colored pencil that can take upwards of a hundred hours to complete. <\/p>\n
Some depict the \u201cTrash Dolls\u201d \u2014 playful figures assembled from discarded pleasures and vices: weed nugs, condom wrappers, razor blades, receipts, and matchbooks, each object rendered with obsessive care. She\u2019s been known to add in human hair, actual cigarette ash, and convincing white powder to the frames, blurring the line between representation and reality. Other artworks venture into darker territory \u2014 swampy naturescapes populated by animals and skeletons, allegories for depression, anxiety, and the murky psychological states she\u2019s trying to navigate. Whether light or dark, her drawings share a common DNA: obsessive detail, sly humor, and an unflinching look at the quotidian junk we use to shape (and cope with) our existence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Schmidt\u2019s been featured in countless print magazines (often nude in an act of self-aware sexualization \u2014 part performance art, part provocation). She\u2019s also shown work at Deitch, Peres Projects, and other on-the-pulse galleries, as well as been featured in the 2010 Whitney Biennial, all without ever formally signing with a gallery. By the 2010s, she\u2019d become an \u201cIt Girl\u201d of sorts \u2014 big on blogs and Tumblr, beloved in fashion circles, a fixture in the downtown scene, BFFs with Chlo\u00eb Sevigny \u2014 yet she never played the game the way others did. While her peers chased blue-chip representation, Schmidt chose independence, betting on herself and her audience. It\u2019s paid off. Even as the art market contracts, she\u2019s still thriving.<\/p>\n
These days, Schmidt\u2019s diversifying even further. She\u2019s collaborated with Supreme, recently exhibited in Japan with support from Verdy, and has projects in the works with skate icon Tyshawn Jones and several companies and rappers she\u2019s not allowed to name yet. It\u2019s the kind of cross-pollination between art, fashion, and music that galleries used to look down at but now desperately want in on.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Now, Schmidt is preparing her biggest provocation yet: her first painting is set to debut at Frieze LA with Lomex Gallery this February. The work is characteristically antagonistic \u2014 an \u201canti-painting painting\u201d referencing Goya\u2019s Los Caprichos series, a mocking portrayal of artists as dancing monkeys. It\u2019s a critique of the very medium she\u2019s adopting, executed in a style that refuses to play by painting\u2019s rules. \u201cI resent painting,\u201d she says plainly. \u201cI resent painters. I resent galleries that prioritize painting over other art forms just because it makes more money\u2026 but I\u2019m the monkey, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schmidt doesn\u2019t mince words \u2014 \u201cI\u2019m motivated by being an antagonist\u201d comes to mind, as does, \u201cI\u2019m using this article to get laid.\u201d She\u2019s sharp, funny, and refreshingly honest about sex, drugs, money, and the absurdities of the art market. And she\u2019s still got plenty to say.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cIf I\u2019m going to have a piece in Hypebeast, I\u2019m going to use it to get laid.\u201d \u2013 Aurel Schmidt<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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You didn\u2019t go to art school. How did you learn?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Aurel Schmidt<\/strong>: That\u2019s why I drew for so long \u2014 because I didn\u2019t know how to do anything else. Everyone draws. Kids draw. After high school I moved to Vancouver from my smaller city. Kids my age were going to art school, doing pop-up shows, and because I was good at drawing, they\u2019d ask me to be in them. I met photographer Tim Barber when he was studying at Emily Carr, shortly before he moved to New York and was working for VICE. He was very connected and it got in my head: New York. That\u2019s where I want to go. So that\u2019s what I did.<\/p>\n
When did being an artist become something you took seriously?<\/strong><\/p>\n
What happened to me, and what I think happens to a lot of people, is if you\u2019re good at something, people let you know. I think the concept that people can choose what they want to do is wrong, especially in the arts. You don\u2019t get to choose \u2014 people choose for you by buying your work and liking it. You can will your way to be an artist, but how far can you really go without fans and support? Once you get that attention you can then go \u201cOK, now I can do that. I want to keep doing that thing.\u201d Obviously, money is motivating. If someone wants to pay you for something, you\u2019re going to keep doing that.<\/p>\n
How did you break through?<\/strong><\/p>\n
I moved to New York in 2006. I was making drawings in my bedroom in Bed-Stuy. My roommate had a \u201cstudio\u201d visit with Kathy Grayson who was then at Deitch. While she was at our apartment, I showed her a drawing. She liked it. Then Tim did a Tiny Vices group show. I worked really hard and we hung some of my work unframed. Kathy bought some of my drawings for the collector Dakis Joannou. Things went really fast after that, to me having a career all of a sudden. It was also during an art boom.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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You were something of an \u201cIt Girl\u201d at the time, both within the art world and the downtown scene.<\/strong><\/p>\n
I was big on blogs like Tiny Vices and featured in print magazines, too. My work was popular with people who weren\u2019t just buying art. I don\u2019t really like the art world. I think it\u2019s kind of weak. There\u2019s money there, but it doesn\u2019t have a strong foundation. I think it\u2019s nicer to have a more diverse audience or platform, where people can enjoy your work in different ways. Things have changed so much. The art world used to be this high pedestal where doing a corporate collaboration was thought to be shameful. Now most artists and galleries are wishing they could do corporate collaborations. People have become more capitalistic. I used to say no to corporate collabs then too, but now it\u2019s what I want. Thankfully I have a diverse enough career with different audiences that I can do that.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve never signed with a gallery. Why?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Yeah, never. I still don\u2019t want to sign with a gallery. I\u2019ve never even had a gallery that represented me. I\u2019m an online person. I\u2019ve always been online and popular online and that\u2019s where I really feel \u2014 it\u2019s like an art form for me. I love it and I wouldn\u2019t want a gallery to think they have ownership over that content or can control any of that. And I make a lot of sales online. My own sales. I always have. Even in the Tumblr era, people buying art from online images was just beginning and people would joke, \u201cWow, collectors are just buying it from a JPEG.\u201d And I\u2019m like, yeah, they are\u2026<\/p>\n
What are the challenges of being independent?<\/strong><\/p>\n
I\u2019ve definitely not made the best decisions with business. Right now I feel like I\u2019m going to have a nice moment again and I\u2019m already in it, and I don\u2019t want to fuck it up. I have to remember that I can\u2019t do all the business stuff myself. It\u2019s OK to get someone else who\u2019s better at business to help make decisions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Your subject matter has evolved recently. Tell me about the \u201cTrash Dolls\u201d series and the work related to darker themes.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Since COVID, I went back to my older work and started doing the \u201cTrash Dolls\u201d drawings again and kind of pop-y trash stuff, which I love. But in my heart of darkness, I just want to go back to making scary stuff again. Big pieces that are not super colorful, not made of garbage \u2014 more like illustrations of animals in nature and dark, swampy stuff. I grew up in a forest and these types of images are more like feelings or dreams. Mental states rather than real locations. I don\u2019t know how to describe this exactly, but say I\u2019m really depressed, I feel like I\u2019m underwater in a swamp. You know that beautiful Millais painting of Ophelia lying there? It\u2019s like you\u2019re just under the surface in this murky area, which is what you\u2019re trying to get through. So the nature stuff and animals are just symbols for other things, they could even be political things. I was imagining you could use images of frogs gossiping and they represent trolls on the internet. You can get really creative with that stuff on a personal and psychological level \u2014 everything can be something else.<\/p>\n
Your work has always balanced light topics with dark aesthetics and vice-versa.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Totally. I had a date here the other night and they saw this big test painting of a Baphomet-style goat, and they were like, \u201cI don\u2019t like it. I don\u2019t get it. Why are you doing this?\u201d And I was like, \u201cOh, weird. Normal people don\u2019t always like this dark stuff.\u201d Think of horror movies, though. They\u2019re a big genre, a lot of people do like darkness and relate to it. Even the \u201cTrash Dolls,\u201d they\u2019re so light, they\u2019re so happy, but clearly there\u2019s a massive dark streak through them. The dolls work because they\u2019re scary and cute. And you can relate to them. I sometimes find creativity in the place where you are a bit scared and anxious, but you find a way through it. That\u2019s like enjoying a horror movie: it\u2019s a safe place to feel scary feelings. But the goal is to find something more to say with the imagery.<\/p>\n
What drew you to drug imagery?<\/strong><\/p>\n
I mean, I\u2019ve done a lot of drugs [laughs<\/em>]. The first time I did one of the \u201cTrash Doll\u201d images comprised of drug ephemera, I was dating someone who was having drug problems. I loved them and I was just sad and worried and I wanted them to get better and they eventually did. I think I made it almost like a portrait of them. The early ones were called \u201cDrug Voodoo Dolls.\u201d They have another function too, where they represent things you desire. Think of a cake, candy, or drugs. It\u2019s something you crave, a treat, but it\u2019s also something that\u2019s going to kill you or you\u2019re going to regret. You could say, \u201cI\u2019m not going to eat a pint of ice cream alone tonight,\u201d but then you do. You could beat yourself up, but you could also laugh with your friend about doing that. Life\u2019s like that. It\u2019s about learning to laugh at oneself for your mistakes and being a little lighter with the idea of your desires \u2014 not judging yourself so much.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cI resent painting. I resent painters. I resent galleries that prioritize painting over other art forms just because it makes more money.\u201d \u2013 Aurel Schmidt<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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You\u2019re preparing for Frieze LA and exhibiting your first formal paintings. How\u2019s the preparation going?<\/strong><\/p>\n
I\u2019m supposed to have a show in May in New York with Lomex Gallery, but our first thing is Frieze LA. I\u2019m making a painting, a big painting. It\u2019ll be the first painting that I exhibit ever. I\u2019ve practiced painting before, but I\u2019ve always tried to do it in a traditional way and just completely struggled with it. With drawing, you leave the white, the light. With painting, it\u2019s all these layers and then you\u2019re supposed to dab the white on the top. It\u2019s the opposite. And it was driving me crazy. I really had a hard time with the layering system. But then I approached one more like a drawing and something clicked. What I\u2019m going to try to do is present people with non-paintings, basically drawing on a canvas. I\u2019m using oil paint on canvas, but I\u2019m really just using my drawing techniques. Right now I\u2019m just going to treat it like a drawing, using a limited palette, using my hand. And I have a really nice hand.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the subject?<\/strong><\/p>\n
It\u2019s a reference to a Goya painting of a monkey painting a donkey. It\u2019s mocking collectors and artists. The artists are definitely the monkeys. This, to me, is specifically about painting. I\u2019m going to make this piece as an anti-painting painting. My dream is to do it in this style where it looks almost like a drawing, raw \u2014 not the way you\u2019re supposed to paint. And then in the canvas within the canvas that the monkey\u2019s painting, it will be a very painterly image. I\u2019m probably going to ask another painter to do the painterly part.<\/p>\n
Why does this topic feel relevant right now?<\/strong><\/p>\n
It\u2019s relevant for me personally because I resent painting, I resent painters and I resent galleries that prioritize painting over other art forms just because it makes more money. I\u2019m talented and it\u2019s super hard for me to make money or even get shows because I work at a small scale and drawing isn\u2019t as respected. Drawings take longer, too. I would have been a millionaire a million times over if I was a painter. And there\u2019s something I resent about that. A lot of people that are not even good, not talented, can just make some shitty paintings and make tons of money in and out the door. It\u2019s a sad reality about the art market. Paintings are like gold \u2014 a stable investment. Buying them is not about buying creativity. People even buy off of scale, which is depressing. Isn\u2019t it sad that there\u2019s not the spiritual ember within the work that makes it special, but rather the size and materials?<\/p>\n
I love art. I really genuinely do and it\u2019s very hard to respect a collector\u2019s attitude about art where you\u2019re paid by the square inch. With this painting, I think I want to come out the gate being self-aware about what painting is and what it means to me. I\u2019ve dissed painting many times. So this painting is like, \u201cI\u2019m the monkey, too\u2026\u201d It\u2019s a fuck-you and a fuck-me at the same time.<\/p>\n
I think it\u2019s bullshit that people think I\u2019m being self-destructive by not painting and limiting myself by drawing. Not drawing drugs makes sense. Not drawing penises makes sense. But not drawing at all? Writing off the whole medium because it doesn\u2019t sell as well as painting? Sad. Because the kernel of beauty is there and the spiritual value is still in the work. And it\u2019s just as special and it takes even longer to draw. But I\u2019m about to make paintings, so hey!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I wanted to ask about you moving away from sexual imagery.<\/strong><\/p>\n
I haven\u2019t been doing any genitals for a while now, actually. They weren\u2019t selling well [laughs]. Galleries would be like, \u201cWe just can\u2019t sell these penis drawings of yours.\u201d I\u2019ve also moved on in my life where I don\u2019t care anymore about that subject matter. It\u2019s not interesting to me anymore. I\u2019m still super into sex, but I just don\u2019t feel the need to make art about it anymore. It was a feminist comment about my own personal experiences and myself which I no longer find interesting. Identity art became so popular, and I don\u2019t want to be part of identity art. Too many people did it.<\/p>\n
There was a time when you pushed that to an extreme.<\/strong><\/p>\n
I was an OG of being an Instagram hoe. I was the original Instagram hoe art thot. It was a stunt. I like stunts. This article is a bit of a stunt \u2014 I tried to make the pictures look sexy. I want to look hot because I\u2019m single and it\u2019s like, why wouldn\u2019t you want to look good? Everyone\u2019s thirst trapping. It\u2019s just part of culture now. And if I\u2019m going to have a piece in Hypebeast, I\u2019m going to use it to get laid. I don\u2019t really think about sexiness anymore other than what I just said, which is that we all are just trying to look our best and being in the human game.<\/p>\n
You have collaborations coming up \u2014 including with Porter, Tyshawn Jones, and some companies you can\u2019t name. What\u2019s it been like to work with brands?<\/strong><\/p>\n
I think if I really want to be successful with brands, I\u2019ll have to change my subject matter. I\u2019m clearly limiting my audience by having illegal drugs in every single piece. I\u2019m doing a bunch of stuff with this one company, and they\u2019re like, \u201cWe love drugs, but you can\u2019t draw them.\u201d And I\u2019m like, \u201cOK! I can draw all this other stuff, too!\u201d But yes, the Porter bags are coming out with drawings of trash all over them. That\u2019ll be cute. I\u2019m excited to see what it looks like to have my stuff on a bag.<\/p>\n
I also recently did a show in Japan with Verdy. It was great for me because a lot of regular people that were fans of the brand came and saw my work. Hundreds of people taking detail shots of the drawings, interested in the actual work, really appreciating it. They weren\u2019t just there for Verdy \u2014 it went beyond hypebeast fandom [laughs]. It made me more aware of the whole streetwear space, too. I was like, \u201cWhoa, there\u2019s this whole world.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cI\u2019m motivated by my fans, by an audience, by being an antagonist, by trying to say something through my work.\u201d \u2013 Aurel Schmidt<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Any dream collaborations?<\/strong><\/p>\n
I\u2019m a little hypebeast. I of course want my Pharrell \u00d7 Louis Vuitton collaboration. I love that he\u2019s taking high fashion, which is so annoying and snobby and stuck in its ways, and he\u2019s changing it. He\u2019s making it into something else and it\u2019s not just about clothes. I think that that\u2019s the way the world is going. And I like that he\u2019s making LV an experience and not just a logo. Like, a whole feeling people can tap into and be a part of without even buying the product. In the apocalyptic world we live in where only big brands have all the money now, LV is sharing the wealth by bringing new people in. I love seeing Tyshawn Jones on the LV stuff. I think they have potential for really diverse creativity. I see it way more there than in the art world. Like, I\u2019m going to do Frieze and I\u2019m going to do a solo show, but it\u2019s so archaic compared to something like working with Louis Vuitton.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s your relationship with clothing and style?<\/strong><\/p>\n
I know this is going to sound bad, but I\u2019m a girl. I like clothes. I like designer clothes. I like wearing nice clothes. I don\u2019t know anything about streetwear culture. And I think that probably is maybe because I\u2019m a woman. If I become popular in streetwear, I\u2019ll be the one that doesn\u2019t make sense. I would love to see my art on T-shirts, shoes, bags, whatever, collaborate with brands that are hype, but I personally don\u2019t collect that stuff.<\/p>\n
What keeps you going? The market\u2019s in a tough place right now.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Well, thankfully I\u2019ve been off the art market teat for years now. I\u2019m totally independent and self-sustaining. I think I\u2019m enjoying this low market point and I think I\u2019m going to have a nice time in it because I\u2019m an antagonist. I didn\u2019t like the way the art market was operating. I thought it was gross and I like seeing it fall. And even though some of my friends are suffering, it didn\u2019t affect me at all. I didn\u2019t lose any money. And I just am like, \u201cWell, it\u2019s time for the Phoenix to rise\u2026\u201d I\u2019m not the Phoenix, I\u2019m just saying burn it down and see what comes out, right? And if there\u2019s new collectors interested in new ways of being creative, that\u2019s good. That old system was not about art, but rather a focus on products and investments.<\/p>\n
Some successful artist said to me yesterday, \u201cOh, you\u2019re showing a painting at Frieze? You\u2019re not going to make any money right now.\u201d And I was just like, \u201cYeah, but I\u2019m not doing it for money.\u201d And that\u2019s where you guys got lost because you all just got so into the money that you didn\u2019t even care anymore.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, I\u2019m motivated by my fans, by an audience, by being an antagonist, by trying to say something through my work. I\u2019m not just trying to express myself, but also express things that other people can relate to and feel something from. I truly want to make the world a more interesting place to live.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n