Jean Smith Explained

Jean Smith
Birth Name:	Jean Isabel Smith
Birth Place:	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Occupation:	Singer, painter, novelist, lecturer, filmmaker
Associated Acts:	Mecca Normal

Jean Isabel Smith (born 1959) is a Canadian writer, painter and the lead singer of the Vancouver band Mecca Normal.

Career

Music

Smith co-founded Mecca Normal with bandmate David Lester^[1] in 1981, while the two were working together at a Vancouver newspaper. Mecca Normal is considered a forerunner of the 1990s politically charged riot grrrl movement.^{[1] [2]}

Painting

Smith has continued the self-portrait series in watercolour, video and photography, including photos from her online dating profiles in her short film Attraction is Ephemeral — the title of a song on Mecca Normal's 2006 album The Observer.^[3]

She began a series of paintings in 2016 to the present that she sells each day via Facebook posts to raise money to create an artist residency in Vancouver.^{[4] [1] [5] [6]}

Notes and References

1. Web site: Vancouver artist ditches part-time job, sells over 1,500 paintings CBC Radio . CBC.
2. Web site: McDonnell . Evelyn . Vincentelli . Elisabeth . Riot Grrrl United Feminism and Punk. Here's an Essential Listening Guide. (Published 2019) . The New York Times . 3 May 2019.
3. Web site: SWF, 45. Jessica. Hopper. Chicago Reader. 27 April 2006 .
4. Web site: Chong . Kevin . Rocker Jean Smith Is Pulling through the Pandemic One Painting at a Time . The Tyee . English . 5 May 2020.
5. Web site: Marino . Nick . The Painter Subverting Art-World Economics, $100 at a Time . The New York Times . 6 January 2021.
6. Web site: Vancouver painter's $100 Facebook portraits raise more than $150,000 for residency project . www.theartnewspaper.com. 21 September 2020 .