Falling under the title VERSO, this solo exhibition by Lionel Smit explores and celebrates the tactile nature of oil painting – its ability to render something visible and touchable that was seen or experienced.
Stemming from early Latin roots, the term verso means reverse. In an art-historical context, it can refer to the left-hand page of an open manuscript (the verso folio), while a work of art can also be signed on the verso, meaning that an artist prefers to sign their work on the back. The term always makes sense in relation to its counterpart – the recto – which is the immediate front or the first encounter, so to speak. The verso is the side of a leaf (as of a manuscript) or a surface (such as a canvas) that is to be read second and seen later. The verso demands a different form of contemplation, as it is that which is not always immediately obvious.
