{"id":2773,"name":"","email":"ensembles@muhka.be","language_id":1,"permalink":"georges-smits","deleted":false,"legal_status_id":null,"url_1":"https://www.facebook.com/GeorgeSmits.Toet.MAFprint.Zbolk","twitter":null,"category_id":47,"date_of_birth":"1944-01-01T00:00:00.000+01:00","place_of_birth":null,"country_of_birth":null,"place_of_residence":null,"country_of_residence":null,"cached_privileges_list":"User","cached_tag_list":"","publishing_process_id":1,"can_log_in":false,"firstname":"George","lastname":"Smits","annotation":"","url_2":"","url_3":"","cached_name":"George Smits","date_of_death":"1997-01-01T00:00:00.000+01:00","cached_name_asc":"Smits, George","stream_count_app":82,"gender":"male","platform_admin":null,"description_ca":null,"short_description_ca":null,"description_it":null,"short_description_it":null,"hide_from_json":false,"prev_platform_id":null,"description_uk":null,"short_description_uk":null,"description_tr":null,"short_description_tr":null,"poster_image":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/mhka_ensembles_production/assets/public/000/029/897/large/GSmits_bij_klanksculptuur.jpg?1444385835","poster_credits":"Courtesy of the Estate George Smits, Antwerp","media_count":2,"items_count":29,"translations":[{"locale":"en","short_description":"","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGeorge Smits\u003c/strong\u003e\u0026nbsp;was a multi-faceted musician and visual artist.\u0026nbsp; He was a fixture of Antwerp\u0026#39;s underground art scene starting in the mid-1960s, and preferably describing himself as a beatnik.It was during his time in art school at Brussels\u0026#39; Sint-Lucasinstituut that he formed a working friendship with the folk-singer Ferre Grignard, often performing together at Antwerp\u0026#39;s music-caf\u0026eacute; \u0026#39;De Muze\u0026#39;, home base for Ferre\u0026#39;s skiffle band.\u0026nbsp; George Smits \u0026ndash; also known by his nickname \u003cem\u003e\u0026#39;Toet\u0026#39;\u003c/em\u003e \u0026ndash; played harmonica and guitar in the band.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 1968 George Smits established \u0026lsquo;\u003cem\u003eM.A.F.print\u003c/em\u003e\u0026rsquo; \u0026ndash; \u003cem\u003eMad Artist Foundation\u003c/em\u003e: \u0026ldquo;a one-man association to promote inexpensive art forms, art forms for the public-at-large: posters, comics, actions with an experimental mobile silkscreen studio\u0026quot;.\u0026nbsp;In 1969 \u003cem\u003eM.A.F.print\u003c/em\u003e became incorporated into E.R.C.O.L.A. (Experimental Research Center of Liberal Arts), a veritable hub of the Antwerp art scene from the early 1970s on.\u0026nbsp; In 1971 members of E.R.C.O.L.A produce and distribute the underground comic \u003cem\u003eSpruit, \u003c/em\u003ea \u0026quot;monthly guy\u0026#39;s mag\u0026quot;.\u0026nbsp; \u003cem\u003eDe Verhalen van Jan \u003c/em\u003e(The Tales of Jan) by MAF-print are chock full of absurdist humour.\u0026nbsp; During this period George Smits also received recognition (at Jeune Peinture Belge) with his light installations \u0026lsquo;The Colour Company\u0026rsquo;, where he veritably launches the colour spectrum in the exhibition hall.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the middle of the 1970s George Smits falls \u0026#39;under the spell of the egg\u0026#39;.\u0026nbsp; At a time when painting had been declared dead as an art form, Smits immerses himself in the painting techniques as practised by the Old Flemish Masters.\u0026nbsp; The psychedelic M.A.F.print-style replete with small figures created through automatic writing and free association now acquires form in tempera and oils.\u0026nbsp; George Smits would continue to paint right up to the end of his life, his styles and formats evolving over time.\u0026nbsp;Starting in 1980, the interface between sound and image becomes his new field of inquiry.\u0026nbsp; With sound sculptures made of styrofoam, bamboo sticks, steel springs and cables, he worked to define space in terms of sound waves.\u0026nbsp; This resulted in performances such as ISOMOPOLIS (1981) at Antwerp\u0026#39;s I.C.C. (International Cultural Centre) and participation in \u003cem\u003eInitiatif d\u0026rsquo;amis \u003c/em\u003e\u0026nbsp;(1984) at the Vooruit in Ghent, as well as many performances in the Netherlands.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDuring the night-time broadcasts \u0026lsquo;\u003cem\u003eZbolk Night Radio\u0026rsquo;\u003c/em\u003e on Antwerp\u0026#39;s local Radio Centraal, his musical experiments took the form of \u0026lsquo;radio pictures\u0026rsquo;.\u0026nbsp; Beginning in the 1990s, Zbolk combined electronic, digital and acoustic recordings.\u0026nbsp; Writing about Zbolk in 1994, Smits gives this description: \u0026quot;How far can someone go in constructing acoustic instruments from junk, playing and then recording them, to compose songs on cheap digital equipment with samples of that music, able to mix these songs live on a weekly radio broadcast with the original sounds, and all this without somebody saying: \u0026#39;You\u0026#39;re out of tune, you\u0026#39;re a freak, you can get out!\u0026#39;\u0026quot; Released in Spring of 1997 was his CD \u003cem\u003eZbolk Night Radio\u003c/em\u003e, just a few months prior to his sudden death.\u0026nbsp;George Smits saw the creation of cheap art forms for a broader public as \u0026#39;a higher purpose\u0026#39;.\u0026nbsp; The extreme integrity with which he pursued this goal is the connecting thread that runs through the utterly diverse \u0026oelig;uvre of Toet \u0026ndash; M.A.F.print \u0026ndash; Zbolk Smits.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/GeorgeSmits.Toet.MAFprint.Zbolk\"\u003eMore.\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"},{"locale":"nl","short_description":"","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGeorge Smits\u003c/strong\u003e\u0026nbsp;was een veelzijdig muzikant en beeldend kunstenaar. Hij was een vaste waarde in de Antwerpse undergroundkunstsc\u0026egrave;ne vanaf halverwege de jaren 60. Zelf omschreef hij zich het liefst als beatnik. Nog tijdens zijn opleiding schilderkunst aan het Brusselse Sint-Lucasinstituut sluit hij zich aan bij Ferre Grignard. Het Antwerpse muziekcaf\u0026eacute; De Muze is op dat moment de uitvalsbasis van Ferres skiffleband. George Smits \u0026ndash; ook bekend als Toet \u0026ndash; speelt er mondharmonica en gitaar.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 1968 richt George Smits M.A.F.print op, Mad Artist Foundation: een \u0026ldquo;\u0026eacute;\u0026eacute;nmansvereniging ter bevordering van goedkope kunstvormen, kunstvormen voor breder publiek: posters, strips, actie\u0026#39;s met experimenteel mobiel zeefdrukatelier\u0026rdquo;. In 1969 trekt M.A.F.print in bij E.R.C.O.L.A. \u0026ndash; Experimental Research Center of Liberal Arts \u0026ndash; dat in de prille jaren 70 uitgroeit tot een knooppunt in het Antwerpse artistieke milieu. In 1971 starten de E.R.C.O.L.A.-leden met de underground comic \u0026ldquo;maandelijks mannekensblad\u0026rdquo; Spruit. De Verhalen van Jan door M.A.F.print drijven op absurde humor. In die periode krijgt George Smits ook erkenning (Jeune Peinture Belge) met zijn lichtinstallaties The Colour Company, waarin hij het kleurenspectrum in de ruimte loslaat.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMidden jaren 70 geraakt Smits in \u0026ldquo;de ban van het ei\u0026rdquo;. Op het moment dat de schilderkunst dood is verklaard, verdiept George Smits zich in de schildertechnieken van de oude Vlaamse Meesters. De psychedelische M.A.F.print-stijl vol figuurtjes ontstaan uit \u0026eacute;criture automatique en vrije associatie krijgt nu vorm in tempera en olieverf. Tot aan zijn dood blijft George Smits schilderen. Stijl en formaten evolueren.\u003cbr /\u003eHet raakvlak tussen geluid en beeld wordt vanaf 1980 het nieuwe onderzoeksterrein. Met klanksculpturen gemaakt van piepschuim, bamboestokken, stalen veren en kabels tracht hij ruimte te defini\u0026euml;ren aan de hand van klankgolven. Hieruit resulteren tentoonstellingen en performances zoals ISOMOPOLIS (1981) in het Antwerpse I.C.C. en deelname aan Initiatif d\u0026rsquo;amis (1984) in de Gentse Vooruit en meerdere performances in Nederland. Tijdens de nachtelijke uitzendingen Zbolk Night Radio op Radio Centraal krijgen zijn muzikale experimenten vorm in \u0026ldquo;radio pictures\u0026rdquo;.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVanaf de jaren 90 combineert Zbolk elektronische, digitale met akoestische opnames. Over Zbolk schrijft hij in 1994: \u0026quot;Hoe ver kan iemand gaan in het bouwen van akoestische instrumenten met rommel, ze te bespelen en dat op te nemen, op goedkoop digitaal materiaal songs te componeren met de samples van die muziek, die songs tijdens een wekelijkse radio-uitzending live te mixen met de originele geluiden, zonder dat iemand zegt: je bent uit de toon, je tijd is op, je bent een freak, je kan gaan.\u0026rdquo; In het voorjaar van 1997 kwam zijn cd Zbolk Night Radio uit, amper enkele maanden voor zijn plotse overlijden.\u003cbr /\u003eGeorge Smits zag het cre\u0026euml;ren van goedkope kunstvormen voor breder publiek als een hoger doel. De extreme integriteit waarmee hij dit doel najoeg, vormt de rode draad doorheen het uitermate diverse \u0026oelig;uvre van Toet \u0026ndash; M.A.F.print \u0026ndash; Zbolk Smits.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/GeorgeSmits.Toet.MAFprint.Zbolk\"\u003eMeer.\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"},{"locale":"fr","short_description":"","description":""},{"locale":"ru","short_description":"","description":""},{"locale":"de","short_description":"","description":""},{"locale":"es","short_description":"","description":""},{"locale":"el","short_description":"","description":""}],"locations":[{"country":"BE","place":"Antwerpen","category":{"en":"Died in","nl":"Overleden in","fr":"Décédé en"}},{"country":"BE","place":"Antwerpen","category":{"en":"Born in","nl":"Geboren in","fr":"Né à"}}]}