Nick Smith’s Pool Diaries: collages, a lightbox and Paradise

Nick Smith’s Pool Diaries brings the activity around a swimming pool into the structure of a colour-chip image. The July 2026 RHODES catalogue names fourteen works: thirteen collages and Paradise — Lightbox, an edition of three. The separately released Paradise print belongs to the same project but is a fifteenth distinct catalogue identity in this guide. The collages and print develop their subjects through diary-like writing; the lightbox offers an abbreviated illuminated treatment, with a turquoise field above the word PARADISE. These formats provide materially different encounters with the project. RHODES exhibition catalogue, artist’s account.

Time assembled from small observations

Smith describes spending eighteen months developing the project. Observations around pools became time-stamped diary entries: apparently minor movements and repeated rituals accumulated into a record of the day. Some places were visited directly, while others were approached through photographs and imagination. The result should not be mistaken for a uniform travel diary documenting firsthand visits to every location. Artist’s June announcement.

The visual construction gives this writing a physical rhythm. From farther away, the chips resolve into architecture, water, furniture and objects. Close viewing breaks that image into individual units and reveals the text. The viewer moves between a seemingly composed scene and the small events held within it. That change of distance is especially apt for pools, whose still geometry can coexist with restless activity at the edge.

Fourteen works, several kinds of object

The complete exhibition list is Beverly Hills; Diary of a Flamingo; Icebergs; Paradise; Yellow Ring — Microchip; June 13th; June 15th; June 17th; Paradise — Microchip; Red Lounger — Microchip; 96 Pools; June 2nd; Palm Springs; and Paradise — Lightbox. The object records below show each exact image and its gallery specifications, rather than using one Paradise image to stand in for the entire group.

Scale and construction make meaningful differences. The large Diary of a Flamingo contains 1,932 chips and measures 151 × 112 cm. At the smaller end, Paradise — Microchip is a 551-chip collage measuring 36 × 35 cm. The larger Paradise collage also contains 551 chips, but measures 79 × 79.5 cm and adds gold-leaf detail on Heritage Conservation Board. A repeated chip count therefore does not establish the same object or material treatment.

The dated June works also reward comparison. June 13th, June 15th and June 17th each use 651 chips on Heritage Conservation Board and share 81 × 79.5 cm dimensions. June 2nd instead uses 1,440 chips and a wider 94 × 143.5 cm format. Titles that resemble a calendar sequence do not make the works interchangeable, and the title dates are not release dates.

Light, paper and the Paradise print

Paradise — Lightbox is made from Perspex, vinyl and LED, with a stated edition of three and measurements of 75 × 50 × 6.2 cm. Its illuminated construction is distinct from both assembled paper collages and the 74 × 74 cm Paradise giclée print. Calling the gallery selection fourteen works is accurate; calling every member a unique collage would erase the lightbox’s edition status.

The print was issued separately in an edition of forty-four through RHODES Editions. Its embedded narrative follows an inflatable flamingo through 728 minutes, giving an apparently playful image a sustained account of use, drift and deflation. The original £1,300 release price and the fair and online allocations are detailed in the Paradise print record. Neither those purchase windows nor the print’s quantity should be assigned to the originals. Artist’s print announcement.

At the 8 October check, RHODES showed a mixture of sold works and enquiry listings. Displayed prices for the latter are current gallery references, not verified original launch prices. The exhibition establishes a public presentation of the group, but individual first-sale dates remain unconfirmed. The exact records preserve paper versus board, frame descriptions, chip counts and edition information so that a collector can compare the actual objects before approaching the gallery.