Rafael Smet - Sûr

Artist:
Rafael Smet (Czech Republic, born 2000)

Title:
Sûr, 2025

Medium:
Acrylic on cotton canvas with natural pigments

Dimensions:
Image size: 145 × 40 cm
Canvas size: 145 × 40 cm
Framed size: not framed

Signature:
Signed on the verso in acrylic marker.

Edition:
Unique work (original painting).

Provenance:
Collection of the artist.

Documentation:
Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity signed by the artist.

Condition:
Excellent condition.

Shipping:
The artwork will be shipped stretched on a wooden stretcher. Carefully packed for safe transport.

About the artwork:
This work is part of an abstract series by Rafael Smet, in which the artist primarily uses natural pigments bonded with acrylic. The first paintings in this series began as an experiment, through which the artist explored and learned how to work with these pigments. After several works, however, the series gradually evolved into something more defined: a visual language resembling the alphabet of an unknown population, conceptually connected to the artist’s architecture series.

This painting is a game in which the image changes its appearance in daylight and nighttime backlighting. It is a play of layers of color, in which each layer plays its own role. In normal painting, imperfections can be corrected endlessly, but with backlighting, one must pay attention not only to how the image looks in light, but also to how it looks with light under.

The image is backlit using - Solight LED strip WM51-20T (EU plug)

Light color: Warm white (3000 K)
• LED type: SMD3528
• LED density: 60 LEDs per meter
• Luminous flux: approx. 300 Im/m
• Power consumption: 4.8 W/m
• Supply voltage: 12 V DC (230 V / 12 V adapter included)

About the artist:
Rafael Smet is a painter based in Prague, where he maintains his studio. In 2024, he completed his bachelor’s degree in Prague under the guidance of Roman Franta and Lukáš Miffek. His work is predominantly figurative, complemented by abstract elements. He works primarily with acrylic and oil and focuses on layered compositions that emphasize airiness, contrast, and light. His paintings balance precise construction with an open, contemplative atmosphere.

His work focuses on figurative motifs, often intertwined with architectural or landscape structures. He approaches aesthetics as a starting point—composition, light, and space—but equally important are the narratives that emerge when observing an image. These narratives are never fixed; rather than telling a specific story, his paintings create situations that invite viewers to project their own experiences, memories, or internal dialogues.

Through carefully constructed layers and controlled contrasts, he strives to create spaces that appear suspended in time—silent, ambiguous, and open. Figures and structures function less as descriptive elements and more as carriers of atmosphere, leaving the image unspoken and mentally active in the viewer’s mind.

Rafael Smet has already presented his work in numerous exhibitions in Prague and other Czech cities, as well as internationally, including exhibition in Belgium.

Selected exhibitions

Solo exhibitions
2025 – RÖ-IGHE, Dimension Výtoň, Prague
2024 – The Beginning of Something, IN Gallery, Prague

Group exhibitions

2026
Common ground, Larry Gallery, Kortrijk (Belgium)

2025
Event Horizon, Pošta Gallery, Dubá
Dream and Nightmare, RockOpera Praha, Prague
Axis X, Schola Humanitas, Litvínov
The Struggle for Power, RockOpera Praha, Prague

2024
Art & Design Institute 10 Years, Church of Our Lady of the Snows, Prague
Don’t Look Away, Critics’ Gallery, Prague
Up the Stairs, Schola Humanitas, Litvínov

2023
Are We Too Many?, Schola Humanitas, Litvínov
Nymburk Art Salon, Municipal House Nymburk, Nymburk
Art of Sugarlandia, House of Joy, Prague