2 JELLICOE AVENUE, ROSEBANK, JOHANNESBURG

24 March - 15 May 2022

This collection of Lionel Smit's paintings and bronze sculpture opens on 24th March.

Download Press Release

Interlude: an introduction

In physics, the “observer effect” refers to a disturbance of any observed system through the act of surveillance. Once studied, the subject matter is forever changed, its original essence transmuted. This is a central preoccupation of acclaimed South African artist, Lionel Smit’s, latest collection, titled, Interlude. 

A series of impasto portrait studies of a single model, Smit’s new body of work examines and reconfigures the relationship between an implied observer’s subjective gaze and the observed object’s (model’s) relationship with that gaze.

Interlude is a natural extension of the artist’s 2021 solo exhibition, Prelude, hosted at Everard Read, London. The show can be regarded as a culmination of what matters most to Smit as a contemporary, working artist in the modern technological age: bearing witness to, and exploring a subtle range of veiled human emotions on canvas and in clay, while drawing inspiration from masters such as Rembrandt, Caravaggio as well as from the studies of Ingres 

As with Da Vinci’s La Gioconda (Mona Lisa) or Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, the viewer of the Interlude series is left guessing about whose gaze is ultimately in control of the narrative. Another element of Smit’s current body of work is the influence of Lucien Freud’s tendency toward detailed facial expressions, evoking a sense of the introspection of the sitter. 

The artist is simultaneously fascinated with how contemporary technological concepts of metaverses and meta(versions), simulations, avatars, and deep fakes influence our perception of reality. “Who ultimately controls individual identity?” he seems to be asking us.

Interlude in context

Lionel Smit has been producing visual art for almost two and a half decades. A curious and creative spirit, and gifted sculptor and painter, his latest exhibition can be seen as a coalescing of youthful preoccupations with textural portraiture and ensuing explorations into the world of the abstract. 

Placed together, this evocative series of paintings and sculptures create an amorphous, fluid dialogue of expression. This allows the viewer to engage with the dualities, multiplicities, and veils of meaning that exist within the unique act of constructing an individual identity, through portraiture, on a deeply personal level. 

Interlude depicts myriad emotions and multiple unknowable expressions, viewed from different angles, at different times, through different media. The sitter is perceived and ‘captured,’ in different moods and guises.

Smit has chosen to return to the subject matter of his earliest oeuvre, but now uses painterly techniques he has gained greater mastery over with time, to powerful effect. Interlude thus sees an artist at his zenith, using enhanced skills and greater confidence to play with the metaphysical concepts of the complex layering of human identity.

EVERARD READ / CIRCA JOHANNESBURG

Everard Read is Africa’s oldest commercial art gallery. Established along a dusty street in the young mining town of Johannesburg the gallery celebrates its centenary year in 2013. Evolving within the continents economic powerhouse, Everard Read has since its inception been associated with pre-eminent artists working in Southern Africa.

In 2009, the CIRCA building was developed alongside the gallery. CIRCA, which is supported by Rand Merchant Bank, has been internationally recognised as an outstanding contribution to South African architecture. Within the subtle curved walls of CIRCA, a series of profound and powerful exhibitions have already been held. The curatorial directors seek to intersperse contemporary art exhibitions with human technology and scientific installations. The magnificent Darwin Room at the apex of CIRCA is used for workshops and lectures.

For inquiries at the gallery:
Stephanie Le Roy
+27 (11) 788 4805
stephanie@everard.co.za
2 Jellicoe Ave, Rosebank, 2196, Johannesburg
www.everard-read.co.za

Gallery hours:
Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm
Saturday 9am to 1pm
Please note the Gallery is closed on public holidays.