In Paul Anthony Smith’s Untitled (Dead Yard), a figure stands with arms outstretched in the midst of a haze of ghostly breeze-blocks. The physical appears to commune with the spiritual; unreality encroaches on the real. It’s a startling effect, one that persists throughout Smith’s second solo show with Jack Shainman Gallery, “Tradewinds” (on view through April 3). Using a needled wooden tool, Smith painstakingly works over his photographic prints, puncturing the surface and chipping away at the ink. Each stipple, each architectural flourish laces the images with the fabric of memory. This is not reality; this is the world in recollection, the white noise of time and distance always threatening to drown out the past. A selection of images from “Tradewinds” appears below.

Paul Anthony Smith, Breeze off yu soul, 2020–2021, unique picotage with spray paint on inkjet print, mounted on museum board and Sintra, 40 x 54″. © Paul Anthony Smith. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

Paul Anthony Smith, Dog an Duppy Drink Rum, 2020–2021, unique picotage, spray paint, and acrylic paint on inkjet print, mounted on museum board and Sintra, 72 x 104″. © Paul Anthony Smith. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

Paul Anthony Smith, Islands #3, 2020–2021, unique picotage with spray paint on inkjet print, mounted on museum board and Sintra, 60 x 40″. © Paul Anthony Smith. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

Paul Anthony Smith, Untitled, 2020–2021, unique picotage and acrylic paint on inkjet print, mounted on museum board and Sintra, 68 x 96″. © Paul Anthony Smith. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

Paul Anthony Smith, Yaad Star, 2020–2021, unique picotage with spray paint and gouache on inkjet print, mounted on museum board and Sintra, 60 x 40″. © Paul Anthony Smith. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

Paul Anthony Smith, Untitled, 2020–2021, unique picotage with spray paint on inkjet print, mounted on museum board and Sintra, 40 x 60″. © Paul Anthony Smith. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

Paul Anthony Smith, Untitled, 2020–2021, unique picotage, spray paint, and acrylic paint on inkjet print, mounted on museum board and Sintra, 72 x 96″. © Paul Anthony Smith. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

Paul Anthony Smith, Who JAH bless…, 2020–2021, unique picotage on inkjet print, mounted on museum board and Sintra, 60 x 40″. © Paul Anthony Smith. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

Paul Anthony Smith, Untitled (Dead Yard), 2020, unique picotage on inkjet print with spray paint, mounted on museum board and Sintra, 95 7/8 x 71 7/8″. © Paul Anthony Smith. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

Paul Anthony Smith, Untitled, 2020–2021, unique picotage with spray paint on inkjet print, mounted on museum board and Sintra, 60 x 40″. © Paul Anthony Smith. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

“Tradewinds” will be on view at Jack Shainman Gallery’s 513 West Twentieth Street location through April 3.