Michael Smith lives and works in Brooklyn, New York and Austin, Texas. Recent solo exhibitions and performances include Museo Jumex, Mexico City (2018); Boca Raton Museum of Art, Florida (2018); Yale Union, Portland, Oregon (2016); Tate Modern, London (2015); Greene Naftali, New York (2015); Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, United Kingdom (2011); West of Rome, Los Angeles (2010); Sculpture Center, Long Island City, New York; and Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia (2008).

His work is in the collections of the Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Inhotim Institute, Brumadinho, Brazil; LWL Museum für Kunst und Kultur, Münster; Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich; mumok, Vienna; Museion, Bolzano, Italy; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Paley Center for Media, New York; and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.