{{Short description|American artist and pornographic actor (born 1976)}} {{similar names|Zachary Smith (disambiguation){{!}}Zachary Smith}} {{pp-dispute|small=yes}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2025}} {{Use American English|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox artist | name = Zak Smith | image = Zak Smith.jpg | image_size = 200px | caption = Zak Smith in 2005 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1976}} | birth_place = Syracuse, New York, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | known_for = {{hlist|Art|RPG development}} | education = Cooper Union <br> Yale University | movement = | notable_works = ''Girls in the Naked Girl Business'' }}

'''Zak Smith''' (born 1976), also known as '''Zak Sabbath''', is an American artist, role-playing game author, and adult film actor.

==Early life and education== Smith was born in 1976 in Syracuse, New York.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Zak Smith |url=https://tinhouse.com/author/zak-smith/ |website=Tin House |access-date=2025-12-01 |language=en-US |archive-date=August 20, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250820100330/https://tinhouse.com/author/zak-smith/ |url-status=live }}</ref> His father, Howard Jay Smith, is a writer and former television executive.<ref name="mineards">{{cite news |last1=Mineards |first1=Richard |title=Here's to Howard - Montecito |url=https://www.montecitojournal.net/2021/01/14/heres-to-howard/ |access-date=26 December 2025 |work=Montecito Journal |date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123003806/https://www.montecitojournal.net/2021/01/14/heres-to-howard/|archive-date=23 January 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=MEETING MOZART: A Novel Drawn From The Secret Diaries Of Lorenzo Da Ponte |journal=Kirkus Reviews |date=5 January 2021 |volume=89 |issue=9 | quote="As Howard Jay Smith's novel shifts back and forth between Da Ponte's diary and Conegliano's life... Accompanying the text are striking, full-color illustrations by the author's son, the artist Zak Smith."}}</ref>

Smith received a BFA from Cooper Union in 1998 and a MFA from Yale University in 2001.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Schwendener |first1=Martha |title=Zak Smith |url=https://www.artforum.com/events/zak-smith-206454/ |access-date=26 December 2025 |work=Artforum |date=1 May 2002}}</ref>

==Career== Smith is known for his portraiture in a style that blends influences including abstract painting and comic book art.<ref>Yablonsky, Linda. "Punk Portraitist: On the Backs of Photographs, Zak Smith Plays with Slick Surfaces to Make Likenesses of Surprising Detail and Depth." ''ARTNews'', vol. 102, no. 8, September 2003, p. 96.</ref> These portraits include his series of paintings of strippers, ''Girls in the Naked Girl Business,''<ref>Kley, Elisabeth. "Zak Smith." ''ARTNews'', vol. 104, no. 11, Dec. 2005, pp. 146–47.</ref> two of which are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is it like to be painted by Zak Smith? – The Weekly Footnote |url=https://theweeklyfootnote.com/2025/11/26/what-is-it-like-to-be-painted-by-zak-smith/ |access-date=2025-12-31 |website=theweeklyfootnote.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260115094045/https://theweeklyfootnote.com/2025/11/26/what-is-it-like-to-be-painted-by-zak-smith/|archive-date=January 15, 2026}}</ref> Some of his works are shown on Artsy.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/miranda/la-et-cam-moment-of-friday-artist-zak-smith-metal-band-celtic-frost-20140703-column.html |title=Moment of Friday: Zak Smith picks the metal-est song in the world |first=Carolina A. |last=Miranda |date=July 4, 2014 |newspaper=LA Times |access-date=April 19, 2019 |archive-date=April 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412221711/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/miranda/la-et-cam-moment-of-friday-artist-zak-smith-metal-band-celtic-frost-20140703-column.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

His work ''Pictures Showing What Happens on Each Page of Thomas Pynchon's Novel Gravity's Rainbow'' is a multimedia composition of 760 drawings, photos, and paintings, one for each page of the novel's first printing. It was exhibited at the 2004 Whitney Biennial and is now owned by the Walker Art Center.<ref>Woods, Chris. "Gravity's Rainbow Illustrated: One Picture for Every Page." ''Chicago Review'', vol. 53, no. 2, Autumn, 2007, pp. 202-205,245''.''</ref>

Smith has written for role-playing games such as ''Lamentations of the Flame Princess'', ''Demon City'', the ''Cube World'' series of adventures, ''I Am the Weapon'', and ''Places to Go, People to Be''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://rpggeek.com/rpgdesigner/39331/zak-smith-i |title=Archived copy |access-date=October 7, 2025 |archive-date=September 3, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250903025408/https://rpggeek.com/rpgdesigner/39331/zak-smith-i |url-status=live }}</ref> Several of his contributions received awards, including multiple ENNIEs for various ''Lamentations of the Flame Princess'' products.<ref name="ennies-2015">{{cite web |url=http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/about-us/2014-ennie-awards-nominees/2015-ennie-award-winners/ |title=2015 ENnie Award Winners |website=ENnie Awards |year=2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503053518/http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/about-us/2014-ennie-awards-nominees/2015-ennie-award-winners/ |archive-date=May 3, 2019 |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2019 }}</ref><ref name="ennies-2016">{{cite web |url=http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/about-us/2014-ennie-awards-nominees/2015-ennie-award-winners/2016-ennie-award-winners/ |title=2016 ENnie Award Winners |website=ENnie Awards |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503163426/http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/about-us/2014-ennie-awards-nominees/2015-ennie-award-winners/2016-ennie-award-winners/ |archive-date=May 3, 2019 |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2019 }}</ref><ref name="ennies-2018">{{cite web |url=http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/about-us/2018-nominations/ |title=2018 ENnie Noms and Winners |website=ENnie Awards |year=2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413043015/http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/about-us/2018-nominations/ |archive-date=April 13, 2019 |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2019 }}</ref>

Smith is also known as an adult film actor.<ref name="PolygonDnD" /> He entered the pornography industry through the 2006 movie ''Barbed Wire Kiss''.<ref name="trice" /> The director, Benny Profane, had asked to use one of Smith's ''Gravity's Rainbow'' paintings in the movie and gave Smith a small role in exchange.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wilson |first1=Adam |title=Notes on Raunch |url=https://www.bookforum.com/syllabi/notes-on-raunch-8243 |access-date=September 30, 2025 |work=Bookforum |date=September 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230627050232/https://www.bookforum.com/syllabi/notes-on-raunch-8243|archive-date=June 27, 2023}}</ref><ref name="kane">{{cite news |first=Kimberly |last=Kane |title=Zak Loves Mandy |newspaper=VICE |date=October 16, 2012 |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/zak-loves-mandy-0003000-v19n10/ |access-date=January 5, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230828080626/https://www.vice.com/en/article/zak-loves-mandy-0003000-v19n10/|archive-date=August 28, 2023}}</ref>

In February 2019, due to allegations of sexual abuse by several women including his former wife, adult industry performer Mandy Morbid,<ref name="PolygonDnD">{{cite web |first=Charlie |last=Hall |url=https://www.polygon.com/2019/2/20/18232181/dungeons-dragons-zak-smith-sabbath-abuse-accusations-players-handbook |title=Dungeons & Dragons publisher scrubs contributor from handbook amid abuse allegations |website=Polygon |date=February 20, 2019 |access-date=March 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228004142/https://www.polygon.com/platform/amp/2019/2/20/18232181/dungeons-dragons-zak-smith-sabbath-abuse-accusations-players-handbook |archive-date=February 28, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="veale">{{cite book | last=Veale | first=Kevin | title=Gaming the Dynamics of Online Harassment | chapter=Gaming The Rules | url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-60410-3 | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan | publication-place=Cham, Switzerland | date=December 4, 2020 | isbn=978-3-030-60409-7 | page=92 | doi=10.1007/978-3-030-60410-3 | quote=Another example came after Mandy Morbid accused Zak Smith of rape and abuse, inspiring others to come forward with their own experiences — experiences which a long-term defender of Smith considered credible. Smith then sued a number of people —including Morbid — in civil court for defamation. | archive-date=September 27, 2025 | access-date=September 28, 2025 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250927120836/https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-60410-3 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="gray">{{cite book | last=Gray | first=Mandi | title=Suing for Silence |chapter=Is Anti-SLAPP Legislation the Answer? |chapter-url=https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.59962/9780774869188-009/html |pages=103–104 | publisher=University of British Columbia Press | publication-place=Vancouver | date=March 2024 | isbn=978-0-7748-6917-1|quote=Zak Smith, who goes by the name Zak Sabbath, is a game creator and adult performer who was married to Amanda Nagy, known as Mandy Morbid, a model and adult film performer. After their marriage ended, Nagy posted a lengthy public Facebook post alleging that during the decade of their relationship, Smith sexually, physically, and emotionally abused her and other women. Within days, Smith was barred from numerous online-gaming communities. In turn, Smith demanded Nagy take down the Facebook post, to which she refused. He served her with a lawsuit. }}</ref> Wizards of the Coast announced that they would be removing all references to Smith from the print and digital editions of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fifth edition, OneBookShelf announced it would no longer work with Smith, and he was also banned from attending Gen Con.<ref name="PolygonDnD" /><ref name="Trammell">{{cite book |last1=Trammell |first1=Aaron |title=The Privilege of Play: A History of Hobby Games, Race, and Geek Culture |date=April 18, 2023 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-1-4798-1840-2 |pages=168 |language=en|quote=Zak Sabbath, the producer of the influential blog Playing D&D with Porn Stars and an influential role-playing game writer, was banned from attending Gen Con 2019 because of his history of abusive relationships with women in the scene.}}</ref><ref name="Comicbook">{{cite news |last1=Hoffer |first1=Christian |date=February 19, 2019 |title='Dungeons & Dragons' Releases Statement on Zak Smith |url=https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/dungeons-and-dragons-zak-smith-statement/ |access-date=July 4, 2020 |work=ComicBook.com |archive-date=July 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200704201740/https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/dungeons-and-dragons-zak-smith-statement/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Smith denied the accusations and filed defamation lawsuits against Morbid and other people.<ref name="veale" /><ref name="ZS1">{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Zak |title=The Statement |url=https://officialzsannouncements.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-statement.html |website=Official Z Announcements |language=en |date=February 13, 2019}}</ref> His defamation suit against Gen Con was dismissed in May 2023 after Smith deliberately violated discovery rules by failing to respond to Gen Con's requests, a decision upheld by the Washington Court of Appeals in October 2024.<ref name="Riley1">{{cite news |last1=Riley |first1=Rachel |title=Wash. Appeals Judge Grills Game Artist Who Ignored Court Orders - Law360 |url=https://www.law360.com/articles/1844708/wash-appeals-judge-grills-game-artist-who-ignored-court-orders |access-date=October 5, 2025 |work=Law360 |date=June 5, 2024 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="riley2">{{cite news |last1=Riley |first1=Rachel |title=Game Artist's Discovery Violations Doom Gen Con Suit - Law360 |url=https://www.law360.com/articles/1884726/game-artist-s-discovery-violations-doom-gen-con-suit |access-date=October 5, 2025 |work=Law360 |date=October 2, 2024 |quote=A Washington state appeals court has refused to revive a role-playing game illustrator's defamation suit against the gaming convention Gen Con, concluding he deliberately violated discovery rules and court orders by failing to respond to defense attorneys' information requests.}}</ref>

==Personal life== Smith lived and worked in Brooklyn, New York until October 2007, when he moved to Los Angeles. He was married to adult industry performer Mandy Morbid.<ref name="gray" /> Smith describes himself as an anarchist.<ref name="trice">{{cite news |first=Emilie |last=Trice |title=Anarchy in the U.K. |quote=This month, the 31-year-old artist, anarchist and porn star has a solo show at Fred in London. |newspaper=artnet.de |date=October 15, 2007 |url=http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/trice/trice10-15-07.asp |access-date=January 5, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406094222/http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/trice/trice10-15-07.asp|archive-date=April 6, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Zing |last=Tsjeng |title=Stoya selects Zak Smith |quote=The self-described anarchist landed his monumental page-for-page artistic interpretation of Gravity's Rainbow in the Whitney Biennal at 28, then landed his first adult film role in Barbed Wire Kiss. |newspaper=Dazed Digital |date=July 28, 2014 |url=http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/20973/1/stoya-selects-zak-smith |access-date=January 5, 2015 |archive-date=January 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150105113746/http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/20973/1/stoya-selects-zak-smith |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="sff-interview">{{cite web |first=David Paul |last=Hellings |url=https://www.sffworld.com/2015/09/an-interview-with-zak-s/ |title=An Interview with Zak S |website=SFF World |date=September 13, 2015 |access-date=March 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190302024518/https://www.sffworld.com/2015/09/an-interview-with-zak-s/ |archive-date=March 2, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Bibliography == === Art === * ''Zak Smith: Pictures of Girls'' (New York: Distributed Art Publishers, 2005). {{ISBN|978-1-933045-22-1}} * ''Pictures Showing What Happens on Each Page of Thomas Pynchon's Novel Gravity's Rainbow'' (graphic representation of novel/illustration) (Portland, Oregon: Tin House Books, 2006). {{ISBN|0-9773127-9-8}} * ''We Did Porn: Memoir and Drawings''. (Portland, Oregon: Tin House Books, 2009). {{ISBN|978-0-9802436-8-0}} * ''The Worst Breakfast'' (illustrator, with writer China Miéville, Akashic Books, 2016). {{ISBN|978-1-6177548-6-9}}

=== RPGs === * ''Vornheim: The Complete City Kit'' (Lamentations of the Flame Princess, 2011). {{ISBN|978-9-5259042-4-6}} * ''A Red & Pleasant Land'' (Lamentations of the Flame Princess, 2014). {{ISBN|978-9-5259046-0-4}} * ''Death Frost Doom'' (Lamentations of the Flame Princess, 2014). {{ISBN|978-9-5259048-3-3}} * ''Maze of the Blue Medusa'' (with Patrick Stuart, Satyr Press, 2016). {{ISBN|978-0-9832437-5-5}} * ''Frostbitten & Mutilated'' (Lamentations of the Flame Princess, 2018). {{ISBN|978-9-5272380-2-8}}

==Awards== {| class="wikitable" ! width="6%" | Year ! width="17%"| Award ! width="47%"| Category ! width="29%"| Work |- | rowspan="2" | 2011 | ENNIE Awards | Honorable Mention in "Best Aid/Accessory"<ref name="ennies-2011">{{cite web |url=http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/about-us/2011-nominees-and-winners/ |title=2011 Noms and Winners |website=ENnie Awards |access-date=March 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190213085352/http://diehardgamefan.com/2011/12/26/diehard-gamefans-2011-tabletop-gaming-awards/ |archive-date=February 13, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> | rowspan="3" | ''Vornheim: The Complete City Kit'' |- | Diehard GameFAN | Tabletop Gaming Award for "Best Campaign Setting"<ref name="dgf-award-2011">{{cite web |first=Alex |last=Lucard |url=http://diehardgamefan.com/2011/12/26/diehard-gamefans-2011-tabletop-gaming-awards/ |title=Diehard GameFAN's 2011 Tabletop Gaming Awards |website=Diehard GameFan |date=December 26, 2011 |quote=With ''Vornheim'' you are really getting two products in one: a dark urban fantasy setting where the skin on snakes used as books and a simple but effective city generation system. When you combine the two, you end up with a book that transcends game editions and provides a memorable backdrop for any gaming session. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190213084145/http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/about-us/2011-nominees-and-winners/ |archive-date=February 13, 2019 |url-status=dead |access-date=March 16, 2019 }}</ref> |- | 2012 | IndieCade | "Best Technology of the Year"<ref name="indiecade-award-2012">{{cite web |url=https://indiegamereviewer.com/indiecade-2012-indie-game-award-winners-the-complete-list/ |title=IndieCade 2012 Indie Game Award Winners - The Complete List |website=Indie Game Review |date=October 5, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190301074800/https://indiegamereviewer.com/indiecade-2012-indie-game-award-winners-the-complete-list/ |archive-date=March 1, 2019 |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2019 }}</ref> |- | 2014 | Indie RPG Awards | "Best Production"<ref name="indie-rpg-award-2014">{{cite web |url=http://www.indie-rpg-awards.com/2014/best_production.shtml |title=Best Production, 2014 |website=The Indie RPG Awards |year=2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406102246/http://www.indie-rpg-awards.com/2014/best_production.shtml |archive-date=April 6, 2016 |url-status=live |access-date=March 16, 2019 }}</ref> | rowspan="3" | ''A Red and Pleasant Land'' |- | rowspan="2" | 2015 | rowspan="2" | ENNIE Awards | Silver for "Best Adventure" + "Product of the Year"<ref name="ennies-2015"/><ref name="bc-ennies-2015">{{cite web |first=Christopher |last=Helton |url=https://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/08/01/bleeding-gen-con-two-best-four-days-gaming/ |title=Bleeding Gen Con: Two Of The Best Four Days In Gaming |website=Bleeding Cool |date=August 1, 2015 |quote=The shocker of the awards was Zak Smith’s ''A Red & Pleasant Land'', published by Finnish small press publisher ''Lamentations of the Flame Princess'', winning 2 gold and 2 silver ''ENnies'', including Best Writing and Best Setting. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151215202240/http://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/08/01/bleeding-gen-con-two-best-four-days-gaming/ |archive-date=December 15, 2015 |url-status=live |access-date=March 12, 2019 }}</ref> |- | Gold for "Best Setting" + "Best Writing"<ref name="ennies-2015" /><ref name="bc-ennies-2015" /> |- | rowspan="2" | 2016 | rowspan="2" | ENNIE Awards | Silver for "Best Cartography" + "Best Writing"<ref name="ennies-2016"/> | rowspan="2" | ''Maze of the Blue Medusa'' |- | Gold for "Best Electronic Book"<ref name="ennies-2016" /> |- | rowspan="2" | 2018 | rowspan="2" | ENNIE Awards | Silver for best "Art - Interior" + "Setting" + "Writing"<ref name="ennies-2018"/> | rowspan="2" | ''Frostbitten & Mutilated'' |- | Gold for "Best Monster/Adversary"<ref name="ennies-2018" /> |- |}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb name|nm2280859|Zak Sabbath}} * {{IAFD name|id=zaksabbath|gender=male|name=Zak Sabbath}} * [https://www.rpggeek.com/rpgdesigner/39331/zak-smith-i Zak Smith] at rpggeek.com

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Zak}} Category:20th-century American painters Category:21st-century American painters Category:21st-century American male artists Category:Alt porn Category:American male painters Category:American male pornographic film actors Category:Artists from Syracuse, New York Category:Indie role-playing game designers Category:Living people Category:American erotic artists Category:20th-century American male artists Category:Cooper Union alumni Category:Yale University alumni Category:Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture alumni Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:1976 births