LIONEL SMIT Accumulation

LIONEL SMIT Accumulation

427 July 2013

Centenary

19132013

Little Stars, Big Stars

Recent Work by Lionel Smit
Andrew Lamprecht

But Ive been walking through the night, and the day Till my eyes get weary and my head turns grey And sometimes it seems maybe Gods gone away Forgetting the promise that weve heard him say And were lost out here in the stars. Little stars, big stars []
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Faces confront us every day in our everyday life: most pass us by, some become marked in our memories through conversation or engagement or repetition, a few loom large through love or perhaps hate. As the title of the exhibition indicates it is through the gradual accumulation of faces, whether through different aspects of one or through a variety of individual countenances, that we build up a picture familiarity of the artists intentions. This is no easy one-liner, but requires engagement in order to come to grips with what Smit is sharing with us, and through

eye based on the multiplicity of partial representations that make up the greater body of Accumulation. In the massive installation Accumulation of Disorder comprising dozens of versions of the same head, each uniquely nished by the artist in automotive paint, that we see this very clearly. Each part of the installation is a unique artwork, worthy of individual contemplation. Taken as a whole, the assemblage speaks of different shades of the same persona, the difference that lies in each individual depending on circumstances and time. Also, perhaps, this work hints at the different routes through life that a person may pass, hinting that one person may have differing trajectories dependent on the experiences he or she is are exposed to at any given point. * * *

European archaeologists who rst saw them believed that they must be evidence of Greek colonists from the ancient world or even evidence of the lost city of Atlantis! Blind to the creativity and sophistication of African artistry, while gazing at these heads, often decorated with parallel vertical lines (which are now believed to be aesthetic devices to draw attention to the subtlety of the gurative details modelled in the works) the Europeans chose to look at surface and not at the subtle lives conveyed by means of sculpture and line. Each of Lionel Smits works offers us an entry point into the variety and richness that lies beneath every face we encounter, whether in life, in bronze or in paint. Just as we may gaze up at the stars and see seemingly similar points of light, in fact, each one represents a world, a galaxy or a cluster of possibility, so far away but also tantalisingly within reach.
1. Lost in the Stars (1949) from the musical of the same name composed by Kurt Weill, libretto by Maxwell Anderson, based on Alan Patons novel Cry, the Beloved Country.

Faces confront us: some small, some big, a few monumental. Whether gazing at us from painted surfaces, marked by abstract swathes of colour underneath the image or on top of it, or in three-dimensional sculptural form, these faces seem to be stoic and reveal few secrets. Like any immediate engagement with the face of another, however, to discover what lies beneath may take time and demand attention beyond that of the glance or passing look. We will need to match the gaze and explore more deeply if we are to enter into dialogue with Lionel Smits new body of work, Accumulation.

him what his art communicates more broadly. Each work, and in some cases each part of an installation or accumulation of many pieces, gradually brings into focus that which lies beneath the surface: an engagement with personhood and its dignity. The sense of unity conveyed through this accumulation of oftentimes fragmented or partial portraits is a recurring theme in this exhibition as is the tension between abstraction and representation. It is as if Lionel Smit is demanding from us that we create a holistic image in our minds

In 1938 a group of bronze heads were discovered in the Wunmonije Compound, near the royal palace of Ife in Nigeria. Dating to the period around 1300 1500 and strikingly lifelike and very beautiful, the

Hidden 2013 Oil on Belgian Linen 150 x 120 cm

Exposure 2013 Oil on Belgian Linen 150 x 120 cm

Ashen #1, Ashen #2, Ashen #3 2013 Oil on Belgian Linen each 190 x 190 x 5 cm

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Reversion 2013 Oil on Belgian Linen 230 x 170 x 5 cm

Merge #3 2013 Oil on Belgian Linen 120 x 120 x 5 cm

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Hidden Structure 2013 Oil on Canvas 165 x 230 x 5 cm

Hidden Exposure 2013 Oil on Canvas 165 x 230 x 5 cm

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Girl in Pink with Blue Scatter 2013 Oil on Canvas 120 x 120 x 5 cm

Rorscharch #3 2013 Oil on Belgian Linen 120 x 150 x 5 cm

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Rorscharch #4 2013 Oil on Canvas 200 x 300 x 5 cm

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Scattered Stare 2013 Oil on Belgian Linen 170 x 230 x 5 cm

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Siren Triptych #1, Siren Triptych #2, Siren Triptych #3 2013 Oil on Belgian Linen each 190 x 190 x 5 cm

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Revert 2013 Oil on Belgian Linen 190 x 190 x 5 cm

Merge #2 2013 Oil on Belgian Linen 120 x 120 x 5 cm

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Left: Accumulation #1 2012 Bronze on Wooden base 185 x 185 x 18 cm Right: Large Malay Girl Fragmented 2010 Bronze 120 x 60 x 85 cm AP

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Left: Two-Face 2013 Bronze on Crystal base 21 x 24 x 30 cm edition 4/12

Above: Three-Face 2013 Bronze on Crystal base 22 x 22 x 30 cm edition 3/12

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Broken Submerge 2012 Bronze with Steel base 83 x 35 x 50 cm edition 2/12

Process Series #1 2012 Bronze 55 x 45 x 30 cm edition 2/12

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Process Series #2 2012 Bronze 90 x 45 x 30 cm edition 2/12

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Monumental Fragment 2013 Bronze 130 x 110 x 250 cm

Attached 2010 Bronze 54 x 40 x 115 cm

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Small Malay Girl with Holes 2010 Resin hand nished with automotive paint 50 cm high edition 6/12

Submerge 2010 Resin hand nished with automotive paint 50 cm high edition 6/12

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Broken Submerge 2010 Resin hand nished with automotive paint 50 cm high AP2

Broken Submerge 2010 Resin hand nished with automotive paint 50 cm high AP1

Crackhead 2010 Resin hand nished with automotive paint 50 cm high edition 1/12

Crackhead 2010 Resin hand nished with automotive paint 50 cm high edition 9/12

Broken Submerge 2010 Resin hand nished with automotive paint 50 cm high edition 9/12

Broken Submerge 2010 Resin hand nished with automotive paint 50 cm high edition 4/12

Submerge 2010 Resin hand nished with automotive paint 50 cm high edition 8/12

Submerge 2010 Resin hand nished with automotive paint 50 cm high AP2

Broken Submerge 2010 Resin hand nished with automotive paint 50 cm high edition 1/12

Broken Submerge 2010 Resin hand nished with automotive paint 50 cm high edition 3/12

Small Malay Girl with Lines 2010 Resin hand nished with automotive paint 50 cm high edition 12/12

Small Malay Girl with Lines 2010 Resin hand nished with automotive paint 50 cm high edition 4/12

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Broken Submerge 2010 Resin hand nished with automotive paint 50 cm high edition 6/12

Broken Submerge 2010 Resin hand nished with automotive paint 50 cm high edition 2/12

Small Malay Girl with Lines 2010 Resin hand nished with automotive paint 50 cm high edition 6/12

Small Malay Girl with Lines 2010 Resin hand nished with automotive paint 50 cm high edition 2/12

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Left: Residue Series #1 2012 Polymer photogravure 73 x 53 cm edition 16/30 Centre: Residue Series #2 2012 Polymer photogravure 73 x 53 cm edition 16/30 Right: Residue Series #3 2012 Polymer photogravure 73 x 53 cm edition 16/30

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Lionel Smit
Biography
Lionel Smit was born in Pretoria, South Africa in 1982, he started developing and exhibiting straight after art school at Pro Arte Alphen Park. He now lives and works in Cape Town. He is best known for his contemporary portraiture executed through monumental canvasses and sculptures. Smit exhibits locally in South Africa where he is considered one of the countries youngest investment artists. He is currently exhibiting and on art fairs in Amsterdam, Germany, India, Miami, Monaco, London and Hong Kong. Over the past 10 years he has established a substantial international following with collectors ranging from the Standard Chartered Bank to Laurence Graff Art Collection at Graff Delaire wine estate. Smits painting has been exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery, where it was chosen as the face of the BP Portrait Award 2013. He was recently honoured with a Ministerial Award from the Department of Culture for Visual Art and a highlight of his career has been the publication of one of his paintings on the cover of Christies Auction Catalogue. SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2013 Accumulation, solo exhibition, Everard Read, Johannesburg 2012 Compendium, solo exhibition, 34FineArt, Cape Town Accumulation of Disorder, solo Exhibition, University of Stellenbosch Gallery, Stellenbosch Strata, solo exhibition, Rook and Raven, London 2011 Surface, solo exhibition, Artspace, Johannesburg Submerge, solo exhibition, 34FineArt, Cape Town 2009 Relate, solo exhibition, Grande Provence, Franschhoek SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2013 BP Portrait Award Exhibition, National Portrait Gallery, London Wonder Works Group Exhibition, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong Affordable Art Fair, Hong Kong Art13 London Art Fair, London 2012 Winter Exhibition, Everard Read, Johannesburg Robert Bowman Gallery, India Art Fair, India Jhb Art Fair, Everard Read, Johannesburg 2011 34FineArt, ArtMonaco 11, Monaco 2010 Cynthia Reeves Projects, group exhibition, Art Miami, USA We are not Witches, group exhibition, Saatchi Gallery, London Out of the Ofce, group exhibition, Kunstmuseum Bochum, Germany 2009 F.A.C.E.T., Charity Auction, Christies, London Group 09, group exhibition, 34FineArt, Cape Town Gesprek, group exhibition, University of Stellenbosch Gallery, Stellenbosch 2008 Reections, group exhibition, Rust-en-Vrede, Durbanville Day Dream, two man show with Jaco Benade, Magpie Gallery, Centurion Rendezvous focus wearable art, Fada Art Gallery, Johannesburg Reect/Refuel, group exhibition, Association of Arts, Pretoria Twenty Artists/Twenty Portraits, UCA Gallery, Cape Town QUALIFICATIONS AND AWARDS 2013 Ministerial Award from Department of Art and Culture for Visual Art, Western Cape Government 2009 Merit Award, Vuleka, Sanlam Art Competition, Cape Town 2008 Achievement Award, Pro Arte School of Arts 2000 First prize in the MTN Art Colours Awards of Gauteng 1999/2000 Best painting student Pro Arte School of Arts CATALOGUES Surface, Artspace, October 2011 Out of the Ofce, Kunstmuseum Bochum, Germany 2010 We are not Witches, Saatchi Gallery, October 2010 Submerge, Lionel Smit, 34FineArt, October 2010 Christies, F.A.C.E.T (catalogue cover), October 2009 Residue, Grande Provence Gallery, October 2009 Group Therapy, Sandton Civic Gallery, 2005 Pretoria, Everard Read Gallery, November 2004 COLLECTIONS Johann Jacobs Museum Standard Chartered Bank. Ellerman Contemporary Laurence Graff Collection Rand Merchant Bank European Investment Bank Johannesburg City Council Saronsberg Wine Estate Delaire Graff Wine Estate South African Embassy, Nigeria Parkdev Various private and corporate collections

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Lionel Smit would like to thank: His team at the studio who helped to make this exhibition possible Veronica, Jos, Adriaan, Monique, Francois and Stephen. His father Anton for always Inspiring him to follow his dreams. His mother Erica for all the support she has given him throughout his career A special thanks to Delaire Graff Estate and Laurence Graff.

Left Accumulation #1 2012 Bronze on Wooden base 185 x 185 x 18 cm (detail) Front cover Siren Triptych #2 2013 Oil on Belgian Linen each 190 x 190 x 5 cm (detail) Inside front cover Large Malay Girl Fragmented 2012 Bronze 120 x 60 x 85 cm Back cover Siren Triptych #1, Siren Triptych #2, Siren Triptych #3 2013 Oil on Belgian Linen each 190 x 190 x 5 cm Inside back cover Collection

This exhibition catalogue is published in conjunction with the exhibition Lionel Smit: Accumulation at Everard Read, Johannesburg 4 27 July 2013 Published in 2013 by Everard Read, 6 Jellicoe Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg Copyright Everard Read All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior permission from the publishers. ISBN 978-0-9870210-7-6 Photography by Jos Ventura and Anthea Pokroy Designed by Kevin Shenton Printed by Ultra Litho (Pty) Limited, Johannesburg

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ISBN 978-0-9870210-7-6

6 Jellicoe Avenue Rosebank Johannesburg 2196 South Africa

Centenary 19132013

Tel: + 27 11 788 4805 www.everard-read.co.za gallery@everard.co.za

9 780987 021076