THE STORY OF LAZARUS
“How tedious it can sometimes be to read about someone else’s life, however maybe there is something to be learned from the life experiences of others. This is the reason I paint portraits, it helps me to understand people better” (Lazarus)
The Story Begins. 1960’s and 70’s
English Artist (b. 1966) Adrian Smith (AKA: Lazarus) is known for his Semi-Realistic Portraiture in Acrylics and Oil on Canvas and black and white photography. His work focuses mainly on ever day people, exploring their individual backgrounds and or personal achievements, often combining the subject themselves with objects which represent their life.
Born into a Post-industrial Manchester in 1966 and from a working class background, his parents being mill workers in textiles, Adrian grew up at a time of some of the greatest influences of art, music and popular culture during the 1960’s and 70’s in a city buzzing with activity and a rich history. His parents recognised his talent from an early age and encouraged him to draw and paint after school, providing him with any and all materials he needed at a time when most working class families tended to understandably encourage their children toward manual work as a career.
From Danger Mouse to David Hockney. Art Education in the 80’s
Following five years of a very unhappy secondary school experience during the late 70’s, he was overjoyed to be able to obtain a place at Salford College of Art in 1982 at only sixteen years of age to begin his art career. This was thanks mostly to his secondary school art teacher, who nurtured his talent and helped him to focus on producing a small collection of drawings of still life studies and portraits.
Whilst studying at Salford Art School he was offered a evening job by one of the temporary tutors to work at Cosgrove Hall Animation studio, producing xerox cells of the animators line drawings which were then painted in the next day to produce the final cells for animating such productions as Danger Mouse. He was also asked to help out on the production of Wind in the Willows stop-go animation feature in 1983.
During this time Adrian’s interest in black and white photography grew rapidly after he learned the technical processes of photographic negative and print development, spending many hours perfecting his craft in the dark room. He spent day after day photographing people in the streets of Manchester going about their daily lives and this is where his love for portraiture truly began.
Upon completing a foundation course in art and design and now equipped with skills in life drawing, painting and photography, he was offered to continue his studies within Manchester University with a three year B.A degree course, however he opted for a one year course specialising in fine arts painting in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire instead. This was a welcome change from the bustle of Manchester in a sleepy Yorkshire town where life moved more slowly, helping his focus more clearly on his work.
Once in Huddersfield Adrian quickly joined the Huddersfield Arts Society through colleagues at the Huddersfield school of art, which had a long history in the art world being formed back in 1890. There he met and was inspired by many artists and he also briefly met David Hockney at one of the exhibitions.
After thoroughly enjoying his fine art painting year at Huddersfield, learning old masters painting techniques and print technology, Adrian returned to his home town of Manchester to continue his B.A Degree art studies at Manchester Art College.
London, America and The Fall of the Berlin Wall. 1987-1991
After graduating from Manchester in 1987, Adrian relocated to London, where he firstly started his career as a freelance book illustrator for pulp fiction publications in the UK, Canada and the US. This quickly proved unprofitable as publishers would regularly publish the books with his cover and he would not receive payment for up to a year ! and the rent needed to be paid. So to make a living he decided to use his skills in graphic design and take a job as a graphic designer with the architects company Llewelyn Davies Weeks, on Tottenham Court Road, where he was also employed to produce colourful visualisations of the architects buildings for presentation to their clients after they realised his artistic skills.
During his time at the architects in London and with a little more money in his pocket, he was able to take many short breaks to travel across Europe by train, visiting many countries over the course of one trip, taking a photographic record as he went. This inspired him to revisit Berlin in late 1989 where he already had friends from a previous visit to the city. Unrest was growing between Russia and the west and it was mentioned by a friend in Berlin that this might be a good time to visit Berlin to get some great photographs, they were not wrong !
Once in Berlin in late October of 1987, he was introduced to a wider network of creative people including a number of up and coming fashion designers who asked him to do photoshoots of their clothes worn by beautiful German models, how could he refuse !! Which resulted in his photographs being exhibited later that year at a group show Das Gesicht der Mode (The Face of Fashion).
Seeing the opportunities for his photography in Berlin, a richly cultured, colourful and crazy city at that time, Adrian decided to extend his stay, which resulted in him losing his position at the London architects. Shortly after on November 9th 1989 the Berlin Wall fell, and the rest is history, documented through his lens.
Upon returning to London he decided to try his luck at becoming a freelance photojournalist, inspired by the news-worth events in Berlin, and went out onto the streets of London looking for photo opportunities to sell to the London press, chasing celebrities from both screen and stage around London interviewing people of interest to sell photographs.
However in 1990 Adrian decided to see the United States for the first time, flying out to California with the money made from his photojournalism, on a three months trip to see and experience as much as he could, using San Francisco as a base. Traveling throughout California visiting Los Angeles, Yosemite, The Giant Redwood Forests and San Diego, making many friends along the way and having experiences he can not speak about publicly to this day. Opening his mind to greater possibilities and creative freedom. Arriving back at San Francisco airport three months later with only one day left on his visa and enough money left in his pocket to buy only a small fries before boarding the plane back to the UK.
Manchester, The Card Factory, The Music Scene and becoming a Father. 1991-2001
In Late 1990, London was beginning to lose it’s appeal, and he had not seen his family on a regular basis since 1984, so Adrian decided it was time to return to his home town of Manchester, settling in Didsbury, just south of the city centre. This was the time of The Hacienda, The Stone Roses, Oasis, Simply Red and a great club scene still existed in the North West. It was a great time to return !
Manchester had always been a great city of Culture and a vibrant art scene with some outstanding galleries such as Manchester City Art Gallery, The Whitworth and great Arts venues such as Corner House.
He soon emersed himself in Manchester Culture and it’s Art and Music scene, visiting art galleries on a regular basis, Clubbing with friends and networking in the search for a new direction.
That direction came in 1991 when he decided to start a new craft wholesale business, The Card Factory ! During that year in between hosting huge house parties with live bands and up to 100 people in one house ! Adrian had been creating hand made craft pieces for fun in his spare time for sale in central Manchester at places like Afflecks Palace in the Northern Quarter of the city, when he was approached by a couple from Huddersfield who sold crafts all over the North West. They bought his entire stock and asked if he made greetings cards as they sold very, and promised to buy them if he could make samples. The rent had to get paid somehow and he had to fund his party lifestyle, so he agreed.
Adrian then decided to scale the business up and visit London and Paperchase, WH Smith and Blackwells Books etc. After securing thousands of pounds worth of orders the wholesale handmade card business really took off. The Card Factory employed around 20 part time people producing hand made cards between 1992-1996.
In mid 1996 due to larger clients wanting extended payment deals The Card Factory became difficult to expand due to no internet sales and Adrian not wanting to take on debt for the company to grow. The Card Factory name was sold to his first clients in Huddersfield and they developed the business into a very successful high street retail brand.
Then, in November 2001 Adrian became a Father to his Son Joshua. Becoming a Father meant a regular stable income so he turned to sales and Recruitment to pay the bills.
It’s all Fun and Games. 2002-2023
In 2002 after a few years working in Telecom sales, on the recommendation of a friend, Adrian decided to move from sales to Recruitment and work with people rather than products. This proved to be a wise move as it earned more money and career progression was much easier. Computer Games Recruitment was still a new thing and Adrian started to build a reputation not only in the UK but world-wide from a top Games Recruitment agency based in Warrington. Then in 2010 whilst visiting one of his clients Guerrilla Games in Amsterdam, he decided to put forward an application to work with them in Amsterdam as their first in house recruiter and was hired !!
After three great years working with Guerrilla Games (Sony) as their head recruiter, Adrian moved back to the UK to work from home as a freelance Games and Tech Recruiter, now very well known world wide reputation in Games. He worked with many clients from Unity, Square Enix, Rockstar Games, and many others and even spread out into working with VFX Movie studios such as MPC, DNeg, The Mill, Technicolour and many others.
Lazarus ! A Rebirth and Return to Art
In 2023 Adrian decided that it was time to wrap up his career in Games Recruitment and finally return to his Artistic career as a Portrait Painter. Having made the gradual slow transition from 2020 whilst still working in games Recruitment, Adrian sold his house in Wilmslow, Cheshire and relocated to Southport to set up a home studio and pursue his Art career in earnest.
To celebrate his ‘rebirth as a Artist Adrian took on the name LAZARUS (Reborn/Risen) as his new AKA.
Now with four new portrait exhibitions planned between 2025 and 2028, Lazarus is well on the way to carving a clear path within the Art world once again.
