Lionel Smit

Lionel Smit (born 22 October 1982, Pretoria, South Africa) is a South African artist, known for his contemporary portraiture executed through large canvases and sculptures.

Smit lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa, but is also represented internationally in London. His work has been exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in London where it received the Viewer's Choice Award, He received a Ministerial Award from the South African Department of Culture in 2013 for Visual Art.

History Born in 1982 in Pretoria, South Africa, Smit was exposed to sculpture through his father Anton Smit, who worked from his studio adjacent to the family home. This studio played a central role in Lionel's upbringing. By age twelve, Smit was already working in clay and considered himself primarily as a sculptor. At sixteen his parents separated, after which Lionel, a student at Pretoria's Pro Arte School of Arts at the time, began to use the empty studio space his father occupied for painting.

Work and subject matter Lionel Smit's art is defined by a relationship between sculpture and painting.

Smit is based in Strand, South Africa. He has achieved international success including sell-out exhibitions in London and Hong Kong.

Local acclaim Lionel Smit has also enjoyed success in his home country of South Africa, where his work has featured in local publications such as Elle South Africa and Elle Decoration.

Qualifications and awards 2013 Visitors' Choice Award, BP Portrait Award, National Portrait Gallery, London 2013 Ministerial Award from Department of Culture for Visual Art, Western Cape Government 2009 Merit Award, Vuleka, Sanlam Art Competition, Cape Town 2008 Achievement Award, Pro Arte School of Arts 2000 First prize in the MTN Art Colours Awards of Gauteng 1999/2000 Best painting student, Pro Arte School of Arts

Selected exhibitions

2015 Close/Perspective, solo exhibition, Everard Read, Johannesburg Origins, solo exhibition, Rook & Raven, London Obscura, solo exhibition, Everard Read, Cape Town Art Central Art Fair, featured artist, Rook & Raven Gallery, Hong Kong Accumulation of Disorder, installation, Independent Art Projects, MASS MoCA Campus, USA

2014

Art Taipei, The Cat Street Gallery, Taiwan Contronym, solo exhibition, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong Morphous, solo exhibition and installation, Circa, Johannesburg Cumulus, solo exhibition, Rook & Raven, London Fugitive Identity, group exhibition, Cynthia Reeves, USA

2013

Art Miami Fair, featured artist, Cynthia Reeves, Miami IS Sculpture, solo exhibition, IsArt, Tokara, Stellenbosch Strarta Art Fair, Saatchi Gallery, Rook & Raven, London Fragmented, solo exhibition, Rook & Raven, London Accumulation, solo exhibition, Everard Read, Johannesburg BP Portrait Award Exhibition, Viewers' Choice Award, National Portrait Gallery, London Wonder Works Exhibition, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong Metal Work Public sculpture, Stellenbosch

2012

Compendium, solo exhibition, 34FineArt, Cape Town Accumulation of Disorder, installation, University of Stellenbosch Gallery, Stellenbosch Strata, solo exhibition, Rook and Raven, London Robert Bowman Gallery, India Art Fair, India Jhb Art Fair, Everard Read

2011

Surface, solo exhibition, Artspace, Johannesburg 34FineArt, ArtMonaco ‘11, Monaco

2010

Out of the Office, group exhibition, Kunstmuseum Bochum, Germany Cynthia Reeves Projects, Art Miami, USA We are not Witches, 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

Catalogues Cumulus LIONEL SMIT, Rook & Raven, London 2014 Formulation LIONEL SMIT, Tokara, Stellenbosch 2013 Accumulation LIONEL SMIT, Everard Read, Johannesburg 2013 Strata LIONEL SMIT, Rook & Raven, London, 2012 Surface LIONEL SMIT, Artspace, Johannesburg 2011 We are not Witches, Saatchi Gallery, London 2011 Submerge LIONEL SMIT, 34FineArt, October 2010 Christie's, F.A.C.E.T (catalogue cover), October 2009 Residue, Grande Provence Gallery, October 2009 Group therapy, Sandton Civic Gallery, 2005 Pretoria, Everard Read Gallery, November 2004

Selected collections Ellerman Contemporary Standard Chartered Bank Laurence Graff Rand Merchant Bank European Investment Bank Johannesburg City Council Saronsberg Wine Estate Grainvest Futures Delaire Graff Wine Estate South African Embassy, Nigeria Parkdev Jonathan Jabulani Museum