GENK.- Uitstalling/Kube Gallery in Genk, Belgium launched a new collection of work by internationally renowned South African Artist, Lionel Smit.

Smit’s exhibition Pendulum is primarily comprised of a series of dialogic diptychs reminiscent of photo negatives and their printed inverse. Heavy masculine impasto brushstrokes both challenge and complement the finer feminine forms and figures displayed. The pendulum swings between these opposing forces to find its own idiosyncratic visual balance.

We witness a return (the pendulum swing) to the delicately rendered depictions of 17th Century portraiture which captured the artist’s imagination in his earliest decades of working as a painter. In Pendulum, this delicacy is even more explicitly juxtaposed through the artist’s counter sway toward abstract expressionism and application of brighter and more striking hues.

Our human world is like a swinging pendulum. There’s constant flux in our emotional and psychological inner states, even in our physical reality. – Lionel Smit.

Lionel Smit is one of South Africa’s most prolific artists. His artistic diversity is pursued through a variety of mediums, and he is best known for his contemporary portraiture. Born in 1982 in Pretoria, South Africa, Smit’s work has been the subject of several international solo exhibitions. His painting has been exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in London receiving the Viewer’s Choice Award 2013. Museum shows include solo exhibitions featuring his artworks at MOCA Miami (Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami) and at the Didrichsen Art Museum in Helsinki, Finland.

Uitstalling Art Gallery / KUBE Gallery deals in a distinctive combination of painting, drawing, and sculpture. The locations for ‘Uitstalling’ are chosen carefully in the east of Belgium as well as in Poznan, Poland. They are in perfect spots to experience a combination of contemporary art with an intriguing environment. They also offer guests the possibility to experience an extended private collection, including work from Pablo Picasso, Louise Bourgeois, William Kentridge, Gilbert & George, Julian Opie, and Damien Hirst.

The home of Lionel Smit is an awe-inspiring studio located in the historical Paardevlei precinct in Somerset West, 40 km from the City of Cape Town, South Africa. Lionel Smit Studio aspires to serve all people through exploring and experiencing art and creativity, as well as encouraging curiosity and appreciation of the world of visual art.

The studio believes in accessibility and aims for the highest standard of quality in all its endeavours. It is not only an art gallery, but a destination where you’ll find space and inspiration through art, and architecture.