‘MANIPULATED IMAGE’ at Everard Read Johannesburg
Everard Read is delighted to announce the fourth solo exhibition of Lionel Smit in Johannesburg. Smit, the leading painter, and sculptor of iconic Cape Malay women will present a series of new works, inspired by the digital age and manipulation of the image.
Celebrated for his skillfully oil-painted and sculpted portraits of female subjects, his work took on a new direction when he moved to the Cape in 2009. This exhibition marks ten years of Smit starting a whole new iconography while exploring abstract qualities in painting and sculpting applications.
Using meticulous techniques Smit has created a unique series of multimedia paintings that, at first glance, look like painterly works of art, but on close inspection, are a combination of silkscreen and layering of different or repeated imagery. The result is a series of works that signifies a dramatic new departure for the artist.
The whole idea behind Manipulated Image is how the digital age and technology has influenced artists and their processes. Experimentation forms a big part of the imagery where Smit uses silk screening as part of his painting process, creating a cross over between the two mediums.
Recent solo exhibitions include Destructure with Everard Read, London; Divide, with ARTLIFE, Los Angeles, and Obscura with the Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami. Smit’s sculpture Morphous has been publicly installed in Union Square, New York, and is currently on display at the Grounds for Sculpture in New Jersey, USA.
Lionel Smit was born in Pretoria in 1982. As the son of a South African sculptor, Anton Smit, he was never formally trained, besides attending the Pro Arte High School. Smit rose to prominence for his iconic portrayals of the Cape Malay women after moving to Cape Town in 2009 and arranging his first solo exhibition based around this theme titled Residue at Grande Provence, Franschhoek. One of his monumental portraits was exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in London in 2013 receiving the Visitor’s Choice Award. His work is in several collections including that of Delaire Graff Estate, as well as the private collections of the Didrichsen Art Museum, Ellerman House, Laurence Graff, and Louis Norval.
Video:
Jasper Bailey
Kent Stützner
Sponsors:
MUTI Gin
Stuttaford Van Lines
