Born in 1982 in Pretoria, South Africa, Lionel Smit has become one of the country's most celebrated and prolific contemporary artists. His work is featured in esteemed collections and institutions around the world. Among his notable accomplishments are the public installation of his monumental bronze sculpture Morphous in New York’s Union Square and the placement of three large bronze pieces at the Equal Justice Initiative’s Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery, Alabama. 

Smit has also presented solo exhibitions at renowned venues such as the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Miami and the Didrichsen Art Museum in Helsinki, Finland. He is widely recognized for his contemporary portraiture, expressed through a dynamic range of media that bridges painting and sculpture. His practice is marked by a harmonious interplay between these disciplines, with each work revealing the depth and complexity behind the human face. Through this seamless integration of mediums, Smit creates a distinctive visual language that resonates across genres.