lionel smit accumulation exhibition catalogue

7/27/2019 Lionel Smit ACCUMULATION Exhibition Catalogue

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LIONEL SMITAccumulation


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427 July 2013

LIONEL SMIT

C e n t e n a r y 1 9 1 3 2 0 1 3

Accumulation


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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 []1

Faces confront us: some small, some big, a few monumental. Whethergazing at us from painted surfaces, marked by abstract swathes ofcolour underneath the image or on top of it, or in three-dimensionalsculptural form, these faces seem to be stoic and reveal few secrets.Like any immediate engagement with the face of another, however, todiscover what lies beneath may take time and demand attention beyond

that of the glance or passing look. We will need to match the gaze andexplore more deeply if we are to enter into dialogue with Lionel Smitsnew body of work, Accumulation.

Faces confront us every day in our everyday life: most pass us by, somebecome marked in our memories through conversation or engagementor repetition, a few loom large through love or perhaps hate. As thetitle of the exhibition indicates it is through the gradual accumulation offaces, whether through different aspects of one or through a variety ofindividual countenances, that we build up a picture familiarity of theartists intentions. This is no easy one-liner, but requires engagement inorder to come to grips with what Smit is sharing with us, and throughhim what his art communicates more broadly. Each work, and in somecases each part of an installation or accumulation of many pieces,gradually brings into focus that which lies beneath the surface: anengagement 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 asis the tension between abstraction and representation. It is as if LionelSmit is demanding from us that we create a holistic image in our minds

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

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In 1938 a group of bronze heads were discovered in the WunmonijeCompound, near the royal palace of Ife in Nigeria. Dating to the periodaround 13001500 and strikingly lifelike and very beautiful, the

European archaeologists who rst saw them believed that they mustbe evidence of Greek colonists from the ancient world or even evidenceof the lost city of Atlantis! Blind to the creativity and sophisticationof African artistry, while gazing at these heads, often decorated withparallel vertical lines (which are now believed to be aesthetic devices todraw attention to the subtlety of the gurative details modelled in theworks) the Europeans chose to look at surface and not at the subtle livesconveyed by means of sculpture and line.

Each of Lionel Smits works offers us an entry point into the varietyand richness that lies beneath every face we encounter, whether inlife, in bronze or in paint. Just as we may gaze up at the stars and seeseemingly 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 novelCry, the Beloved Country .

Little Stars, Big StarsRecent Work by Lionel Smit

Andrew Lamprecht


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8 9 Hidden 2013Oil onBelgianLinen 150x120cm Exposure 2013Oil onBelgianLinen 150x120cm


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12 13 Reversion 2013 OilonBelg ianLinen 230x170x5cm Merge #3 2013 OilonBelg ianLinen 120x120x5cm


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14 15 Hidden Structure 2013 OilonCanvas165x230x5 cm Hidden Exposure 2013 OilonCanvas165x230x5 cm


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18 19 Rorscharch #3 2013 OilonBelg ianLinen 120x150x5cmGirl in Pink with Blue Scatter 2013 OilonCanvas 120x120x5cm


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Rorscharch #4 2013 OilonCanvas 200x300x5cm


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22 23 Scattered Stare 2013 OilonBelg ianLinen 170x230x5cm


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Siren Triptych #1, Siren Triptych #2, Siren Triptych #3 2013 OilonBelg ianLinen each190x190x5 cm


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26 27 Revert 2013 OilonBelg ianLinen 190x190x5cm Merge #2 2013 OilonBelg ianLinen 120x120x5cm


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Left:Accumulation #1

2012 BronzeonWoodenbase185x 185x18cmRight:Large Malay Girl Fragmented 2010 Bronze120x60x 85cm AP


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32 33 Left:Two-Face 2013 Bronze on Crystal base 21 x 24 x 30 cm edition 4/12 Above:Three-Face 2013BronzeonCrystalbase 22x22 x30 cm edition3/12


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Process Series #12012Bronze55x45x 30cm edit ion2 /12

Broken Submerge 2012BronzewithSteelbase83x35x50cm edit ion2 /12


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Process Series #2 2012 Bronze90x 45x30cm edit ion2 /12


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Attached 2010 Bronze54x 40x115cm

Monumental Fragment 2013 Bronze130x110x250cm


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Submerge 2010Resinhandnishedwithautomotivepaint50cmhigh edition6/12

Small Malay Girl with Holes 2010Resinhandnishedwithautomotivepaint50cmhigh edition6/12


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Broken Submerge 2010Resinhandnishedwithautomotivepaint50 cmhigh AP2 Broken Submerge 2010Resinhandnishedwithautomotivepaint 50cmhigh AP1

Broken Submerge 2010Resinhandnishedwithautomotivepaint50 cmhigh edition9/12 Broken Submerge 2010Resinhandnishedwithautomotivepaint 50cmhigh edition4/12



Crackhead 2010Resinhandnishedwithautomotivepaint 50cmhigh edition1/12 Crackhead 2010Resinhandnishedwithautomotivepaint 50cmhigh edition9/12

Submerge 2010Resinhandnishedwithautomotivepaint 50cmhigh edition8/12 Submerge 2010Resinhandnishedwithautomotivepaint 50cmhigh AP2

Small Malay Girl with Lines 2010Resinhandnishedwithautomotivepaint 50cmhigh edition4/12





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Lionel Smit


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Lionel SmitBiography

Lionel Smit was born in Pretoria, SouthAfrica in 1982, he started developing andexhibiting straight after art school at Pro ArteAlphen Park. He now lives and works in CapeTown. He is best known for his contemporaryportraiture executed through monumentalcanvasses and sculptures.

Smit exhibits locally in South Africa wherehe is considered one of the countries youngestinvestment artists. He is currently exhibitingand on art fairs in Amsterdam, Germany, India,Miami, Monaco, London and Hong Kong.

Over the past 10 years he has establisheda substantial international following with

collectors ranging from the StandardChartered Bank to Laurence Graff ArtCollection at Graff Delaire wine estate.

Smits painting has been exhibited at theNational Portrait Gallery, where it was chosenas the face of the BP Portrait Award 2013.He was recently honoured with a MinisterialAward from the Department of Culture forVisual Art and a highlight of his career hasbeen the publication of one of his paintings onthe cover of Christies Auction Catalogue.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2013Accumulation , solo exhibition, Everard Read,

Johannesburg2012Compendium , solo exhibition, 34FineArt,

Cape TownAccumulation of Disorder , solo Exhibition,

University of Stellenbosch Gallery,Stellenbosch

Strata , solo exhibition, Rook and Raven,London

2011Surface , solo exhibition, Artspace,

JohannesburgSubmerge , solo exhibition, 34FineArt,

Cape Town

2009Relate , solo exhibition, Grande Provence,

Franschhoek

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2013BP Portrait Award Exhibition , National Portrait

Gallery, LondonWonder Works Group Exhibition ,

The Cat Street Gallery, Hong KongAffordable Art Fair , Hong KongArt13 London Art Fair , London2012Winter Exhibition , Everard Read,

JohannesburgRobert Bowman Gallery, India Art Fair, IndiaJhb Art Fair,Everard Read, Johannesburg201134FineArt, ArtMonaco 11, Monaco2010Cynthia Reeves Projects, group exhibition,

Art Miami, USAWe are not Witches , group exhibition, Saatchi

Gallery, LondonOut of the Ofce , group exhibition,

Kunstmuseum Bochum, Germany2009F.A.C.E.T., Charity Auction, Christies, LondonGroup 09, group exhibition, 34FineArt,

Cape TownGesprek , group exhibition, University of

Stellenbosch Gallery, Stellenbosch2008Reections , group exhibition,

Rust-en-Vrede, DurbanvilleDay Dream , two man show with Jaco Benade,

Magpie Gallery, CenturionRendezvous focus wearable art , Fada Art

Gallery, JohannesburgReect/Refuel , group exhibition, Association

of Arts, PretoriaTwenty Artists/Twenty Portraits , UCA Gallery,Cape Town

QUALIFICATIONS AND AWARDS2013 Ministerial Award from Department of

Art and Culture for Visual Art,Western Cape Government

2009 Merit Award, Vuleka, Sanlam ArtCompetition, Cape Town

2008 Achievement Award, Pro Arte Schoolof Arts

2000 First prize in the MTN Art ColoursAwards of Gauteng

1999/2000Best painting student Pro ArteSchool of Arts

CATALOGUES

Surface , Artspace, October 2011Out 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, 2005Pretoria , Everard Read Gallery,

November 2004

COLLECTIONSJohann Jacobs MuseumStandard Chartered Bank.Ellerman ContemporaryLaurence Graff CollectionRand Merchant BankEuropean Investment BankJohannesburg City CouncilSaronsberg Wine EstateDelaire Graff Wine EstateSouth African Embassy,Nigeria ParkdevVarious private and corporate collections

Lionel Smit would like to thank:


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Thisexhibitioncatalogueis publishedinconjunctionwiththeexhibitionLionelSmit: Accumulation atEverardRead,Johannesburg427July2013

Publishedin2013by EverardRead,6JellicoeAvenue,Rosebank,Johannesburg

CopyrightEverardReadAllrightsreserved.

Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedortransmitted,inanyformor byanymeans,withoutprior permissionfromthepublishers.

ISBN 978-0-9870210-7-6

PhotographybyJosVenturaandAntheaPokroyDesignedbyKevinShentonPrintedby UltraLitho(Pty) Limited,Johannesburg

LeftAccumulation #12012BronzeonWoodenbase 185x185x 18cm(detail)

FrontcoverSiren Triptych #2 2013Oil onBelgianLinen each190x190x 5cm(detail)

InsidefrontcoverLarge Malay Girl Fragmented 2012 Bronze120x60x 85cm

BackcoverSiren Triptych #1, Siren Triptych #2 , Siren Triptych #3 2013 OilonBelg ianLinen each190x190x5 cm

InsidebackcoverCollection

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.


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C e n t e n a r y 1 9 1 3 2 0 1 3

6 Jellicoe Avenue Rosebank Johannesburg 2196 South Africa

Tel: + 27 11 788 4805 www.everard-read.co.za [email protected]

ISBN 978-0-9870210-7-6

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lionel smit accumulation exhibition catalogue

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