The three artworks below - one purchase, one loan and one donation - joined the S.M.A.K. collection in 2024, illustrating these three important acquisition mechanisms.
Dennis Tyfus, The Point Of No Return, 2022, coloured pencil on paper, 166 x 138 cm, 2024 purchase
Dennis Tyfus (b 1979, Antwerp), is a Belgian visual artist with a very diverse artistic practice, characterised by an anarchic attitude towards, among other things, the contemporary art world, often laced with absurd, sometimes mocking humour. The Point Of No Return, acquired in 2024 by S.M.A.K., is a large-scale pencil drawing in soft pastels, in which the artist ironically depicts himself as a ‘plein-air painter’, a painter in the open air. This classic way of painting is not often practised within contemporary painting anymore, which seems to suggest to Tyfus with the necessary self-mockery that he may well be a ‘corny’ painter.
Libasse Ka, Herinnering uit Matam, 2021, oil and acrylic on wood, 17 x 24 cm, 2024 loan Collection Flemish Community
Libasse KA (b. 1998, Camberene, Senegal), produces intuitive yet thoughtful painting. He combines abstract forms with figurative motifs. Sophisticated colours help create rhythm and balance. Memory from Matam is produced in acrylic and oil paint on wood and bathed in warm earth tones. Matam is a town on the Sénégal river, which forms the natural border with Mauritania. From his childhood there, Libasse KA remembers the cracks in the dry soil and the few buildings. The subtle shapes allude to this. Memory from Matam was given on long-term loan to the S.M.A.K. by the Flemish Community in 2024.
Libasse Ka is one of more than 70 artists who are part of the major painting exhibition ‘Painting After Painting’ at S.M.A.K. this spring.
Narcisse Tordoir, Fake Barok, 2016, pastel on paper on dibond, 340 x 2790 cm, 2024 donation by the artist
Narcisse Tordoir (°1954, Mechelen), has been exploring the boundaries of painting since the 1980s, exploring the possibilities of this medium in the most versatile way. Fake Baroque from 2016 is a perfect illustration of Tordoir's groundbreaking approach. This monumental installation consists of giant photo collages, edited with pastel crayon, over 27 metres long and 3.5 metres high, and symbolises the crises plaguing our contemporary society.
Fake Baroque was donated to S.M.A.K. by the artist in 2024, and will be exhibited at the museum for the first time in November 2025.
