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WELCOME TO THE WALK OF LIFE
The Anton Smit Exhibition at Leonardslee Lakes & Gardens
The collaboration between Leonardslee Lakes & Gardens and renowned South African sculptor, Anton Smit is an extensive showcase of the artist’s contemporary sculpture and life works. The unique woodland gardens breathe life into the sculptures for art lovers, visitors and collectors alike to enjoy as a journey, an exhibition titled, ‘The Walk of Life’.
‘The Walk of Life’ is one of the largest sculpture parks in Europe, comprising over eighty individual, monumental works made from bronze, resin and steel, thoughtfully placed in harmony with the gardens and includes several pieces specifically created for Leonardslee. Including Smit’s signature colossal heads, human figures and masks, the showcase allows visitors to experience the artist’s extraordinary practice in the stunning setting of Leonardslee.
This brand new Sculpture Park and Art Gallery showcases a wide variety of the artist’s life works and extraordinary practice in harmony with the historic Grade I listed woodland gardens, creating new vistas across the valley and our seven lakes.
A poet as well as an artist, he offers further meaning to the works with verse of his own and others, including Thomas Hardy and William Carlos Williams, which are featured alongside the sculptures.
“My work is driven by faith; the spiritual essence of every piece is an answer to that inner call.” — ANTON SMIT
Contact:
Art Enquiries: art@leonardsleegardens.co.uk
Press Enquiries: info@leonardsleegardens.co.uk
Website: Leonardslee Lakes & Gardens | Sculpture Sales & Sculpture Trail
Address: Leonardslee Gardens
Brighton Road
Lower Beeding, Horsham
RH13 6PP
About the Exhibition at Leonardslee
‘The Walk of Life tells a story that takes the visitor on a journey of self-discovery.’
Our story spans two continents and brings together the beautiful Grade I Listed English gardens located in West Sussex and the love of art, poetry and sculpture of South African born artist, Anton Smit.
The collaboration between Leonardslee Gardens and Anton Smit is a showcase of the artist’s contemporary sculpture and life works, all of which are available for purchase. These unique woodland gardens are home to and breathe life into the sculptures.
The Walk of Life offers the visitor a comprehensive collection of more than 100 individual sculptures, each comprising of chapters with poetry. All woven together into a definite narrative that unfolds as one walks along the pathways.
A unique experience where the visitor is surrounded by nature and art, co-existing in harmony.
A large selection of sculptures by world renowned artist, Anton Smit can be viewed and explored on the many trails at Leonardslee. Each telling a story of life, inviting the visitor onto a journey of self-discovery through a sense or state of being and belonging.
ABOUT ANTON SMIT:
Widely revered for his overwhelming heads and monumental African sculptures, Anton Smit’s works grace public and private collections countrywide and internationally.
Anton collects sayings about the relationship between art and the individual artist’s experience of reality. “Art is not to render the visible but to render visible,” he asserts, and his art achieves this in many ways.
Anton achieved his first artistic breakthroughs in 1977, when he received special mention in the South African Art Association’s New Signatures competition in Pretoria. He went international when, in 1994, he put 35 sculptures on exhibition in New York at the Grand Central Station as part of the Strengthening the Link initiative to boost trade between South Africa and The United States.