Het werk van Moens is noch formeel, noch figuratief. Het loochent het onderscheid tussen zuiver abstracte schilderkunst

en een schilderkunst die betekenisvolle elementen incorporeert, zoals woorden of beelden. In plaats daarvan experimenteert het met soorten verf, oppervlakken en tekens, waarmee ambigue verschijningen en ruimtes tot stand komen die tegelijk factisch en illusoir zijn.

Het werk van Moens is niet enkel een reflectie over en een respons op de fysieke randvoorwaarden opgedrongen ...

Tami Amit’s self-titled monograph compiles reproductions of her recent work on paper and canvas. Amit’s practice is a particular mode of action painting which processes childhood memories and issues of self identity and expression. This is her first monograph as a painter.

Cindy Wright creates large-scale oil paintings on canvas. At first glance the monumental still life paintings appear to be photo-realistic, using the photographic methods of cropping compositions and intense source lighting. But on closer inspection, the range of mark-making and painterly applications become astoundingly apparent. Wright’s work echoes the morbid tradition of ‘vanitas’ from the Dutch Old Masters of the 16th and 17th Century. Between beauty and decay, archetypal symbols l...

The gaze that looks ahead and then slowly wanders down or to the side, looking for traces and signs of a landscape, rather than the landscape itself. Van den Broek paints what others pay no attention to or simply overlook. Cracks, borders, shadows, lines, corners, and also bridges, trees, trucks, reflections. They are set up crisply, and stripped of their frills (or as van den Broek puts it: “Cut away the snoopy!”), which leaves them somewhere between figuration and abstraction. Are we in...

Spanning fifteen years of artistic practice, this monograph derives its title from a 1913 avant-garde Cubo-Futurist opera celebrating the demise of the sun. It confronts us with the speculative state of reality after the end of the world, a barren ontological wasteland in which artifacts have lost their utility. In his work, Xavier Mary is concerned with the dreams and nightmares of modernity, resulting from its inherently industrial nature. The sense of an impending apocalypse or total destr...

In 'Yes and Maybe or Also No’, explore the creative world of Belgian artist Leon Vranken (b.1975). Blending artworks with experimental imagery spanning from 2019 to 2023.

Vranken's process, marked by trial and error, reveals the fluid nature of artistic creation. The book offers an insight into his studio life, where art is constantly evolving, and the finished state remains a question. Engage with Vranken's journey through a visual narrative that challenges conventional perceptions of art...

“There is a lot of libido in the works of Tomislav Nikolic. An excess of desire which throbs and pulsates — palpitates — like some disco night atmosphere full of adrenaline and exaggerated lust. No!, you say. Nikolic’s works are exquisite, beautiful, serene, transcendent, mystical, spiritual. Yes, Ok they are, but they are also a bacchanal, carnival and a mardi gras; a late night in a mosh pit when things get loose and hyperventilated. They are all — every¬thing. Yet restrained. Co...

Dynamic Project II is published on the occasion of the retrospective Philippe Van Snick – Dynamic Project in S.M.A.K.. This publication complements the book Dynamic Project from 2010, an illustrated monograph that offers an overview of the work and life of the artist between 1970 and 2010. Dynamic Project II picks up where Dynamic Project left off: it starts in 2010 and continues until the death of the artist in 2019. The research and writing for this second book was done by Wouter de Vlees...

Johan Clarysse culls and paints images, unbiased, guided only by their potential for leaving a lasting impression on the viewer. To this end, imagery is assessed for its tension and contrasts, for its ability or inability to convey meaning, as well as for the presence of any unsettling enigmas. That is, drama without any restrictive narrative. Tension without any apparent curve. Clarysse’s work stands out because of its unique language, the use of soft, muted colours, its existential themes...

Het werk van Angel Vergara (°1958, Spanje) geeft gestalte aan een diepgravend onderzoek naar de kracht van het beeld. Aan

de hand van performances, video’s, installaties, schilderijen en tekeningen tast Vergara de grenzen af van kunst en realiteit, en bevraagt hij hoe de hedendaagse beeldcultuur onze private en publieke sferen vormgeeft en beïnvloedt. Elk werk is een poging om doorheen een beeld te breken en zijn esthetische, politieke en socio-culturele impact bloot te leggen. Vergara c...