LIONEL SMIT

Lionel Smit (born 1982, Pretoria, South Africa) is one of South Africa’s most prolific and exalted artists. His artistic diversity is pursued through a variety of mediums, and he is best known for his contemporary portraiture. His art is defined by a deeply rooted symbiotic relationship between sculpture and painting. Today, each of Lionel Smit’s works offers us an entry point into the variety and richness that lies beneath every face we encounter in life, whether applied in bronze or paint. The blending of techniques across genres is a display of Smit’s work in multiple media, all bearing a visible and tangible overlap.

Lionel Smit was born in 1982 in Pretoria, South Africa. His pieces are held in prestigious collections and institutions worldwide, including notable achievements such as the public display of his monumental bronze sculpture “Morphous” in Union Square, New York, and the installation of three large bronze sculptures at EJI’s “Freedom Monument Sculpture Park” in Montgomery, Alabama. Smit has held solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Miami and the Didrichsen Art Museum in Helsinki, Finland. 

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS & COLLECTIONS

2024

Formed, solo exhibition, Everard Read / CIRCA, Johannesburg

Irreversible, solo exhibition, Everard Read, London 

2023

Reflection of Self, permanent installation, Freedom Monument Sculpture Park, Montgomery

Veil, solo exhibition, Uitstalling Art Gallery / KUBE Gallery, Genk

Exposure, solo exhibition, Everard Read CIRCA Gallery, Cape Town

2022

Pendulum, solo exhibition, Uitstalling Art Gallery / KUBE Gallery, Genk

Interlude, solo exhibition, Everard Read CIRCA, Johannesburg

Collide, solo exhibition, .M Contemporary, Sydney

2021

Art Düsseldorf, Uitstalling Gallery, Germany

Discrepancies, solo exhibition, Uitstalling Art Gallery, Genk

Prelude, solo exhibition, Everard Read, London

2020

Masterpiece Art Fair, Everard Read, London

Suspended, solo exhibition, Everard Read, Franschhoek

Verso, solo exhibition, Everard Read, Cape Town

Reposition, solo exhibition, Uitstalling Art Gallery, Genk

2019

Manipulated Image, Everard Read, Johannesburg

Destructure, solo exhibition, Everard Read, London

Art Central, .M Contemporary, Hong Kong

2018

Divide, solo exhibition, ARTLIFE, Los Angeles

Obscura, solo exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami

2017

Emerge, solo exhibition, .M Contemporary, Sydney

State, solo exhibition, Everard Read, Johannesburg

Premise, solo exhibition, Circa, Cape Town

Art Central, .M Contemporary, Hong Kong

Faces of Identity, solo exhibition, Everard Read, London

2016

Extract, solo exhibition, Knysna Fine Art, Knysna

Faces, solo exhibition, Didrichsen Art Museum, Helsinki

Morphous, public installation, Union Square, New York

Trace, solo exhibition, Rook & Raven, New York

Obscura 2, solo exhibition, Rook & Raven, London

Art16, Rook & Raven, London

Echo, solo exhibition, Cynthia-Reeves, MASS MoCA Campus, Massachusetts

2015

Art Miami, featured artist, Cynthia-Reeves, Miami

Recurrence, solo exhibition, .M Contemporary, Sydney

Cumulus, solo exhibition, Rook & Raven, London

Close/Perspective, solo exhibition, Everard Read, Johannesburg

Origins, solo exhibition, Rook & Raven, London

Obscura, solo exhibition, Everard Read, Cape Town

Art Central Hong Kong, featured artist, Rook & Raven, Hong Kong

Accumulation of Disorder, solo exhibition, Independent Art Projects, MASS MoCA Campus, Massachusetts

2014

Art Taipei, The Cat Street Gallery, Taiwan

Contronym, solo exhibition, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong

Morphous, solo exhibition, Circa, Johannesburg

Cumulus, solo exhibition, Rook & Raven, London

2013

Art Miami, featured artist, Cynthia-Reeves, Miami

IS Sculpture, solo exhibition, IS Art, Tokara, Stellenbosch

Fragmented, solo exhibition, Rook & Raven, London

Accumulation, solo exhibition, Everard Read, Johannesburg

BP Portrait Award 2013, group exhibition, National Portrait Gallery, London

2012

Compendium, solo exhibition, 34FineArt, Cape Town

Accumulation of Disorder, solo exhibition, University of Stellenbosch Gallery, Stellenbosch

Strata, solo exhibition, Rook & Raven, London

India Art Fair, Robert Bowman Gallery, Delhi

2011

Surface, solo exhibition, Artspace, Johannesburg

ArtMonaco 2011, 34FineArt, Monaco

2010

Out of the O!ce, group exhibition, Kunstmuseum Bochum, Bochum

Art Miami, featured artist, Cynthia-Reeves, Miami

We Are Not Witches, group exhibition, Saatchi Gallery, London

Submerge, solo exhibition, 34FineArt, Cape Town

2009

F.A.C.E.T., charity auction, Christie’s, London

Relate, solo exhibition, Grande Provence, Franschhoek

COLLECTIONS

Delaire Gra" Estate

Didrichsen Art Museum

Ellerman House

European Investment Bank

Johannesburg City Council

Kennedy Plaza

Laurence Gra" Private Collection

Rand Merchant Bank

Sasol

Standard Chartered Bank