Tastemaking South African Gallery SMAC Is Anchoring its Future in Cape Town

The day the South African gallery SMAC welcomed the sculptor Barend De Wet to its roster, its trajectory shifted. This was back in 2009, two years after Baylon Sandri founded the gallery in the picturesque wine-country town of Stellenbosch. At first, the Cape Town–born gallerist intended for SMAC—originally known as Stellenbosch Modern and Contemporary—to be a space for historically underrepresented South African artists. That changed when Sandri met De Wet. “De Wet was undoubtedly one of South Africa’s most avant-garde artists, and this sparked a change in the gallery’s focus,” Sandri told Artsy. From that point on, SMAC has been focused on uplifting contemporary artists of southern Africa.

In the 15 years since that turning point, SMAC has evolved into a cornerstone of the contemporary art scene in South Africa. In 2011, SMAC expanded its reach to Cape Town, opening a space in the City Centre before moving to the Woodstock gallery district. Soon after, in 2016, the gallery launched an outpost in Johannesburg.

With its keen eye for emerging talent, SMAC has helped propel the careers of young and rising artists, such as Simphiwe Buthelezi and Wallen Mapondera, the latter of whom was featured in The Artsy Vanguard 2021. And since participating in its first art fair in 2013, VOLTA9 in Basel, SMAC has become a force on the international stage—evident through its participation in more than 10 major international art fairs last year, including an impressive solo presentation of Buthelezi’s work at Paris+ par Art Basel 2023.

In November 2023, the gallery celebrated a homecoming when it returned to Cape Town’s City Centre, inaugurating a new flagship gallery with an expansive group exhibition titled “Back In Town.” This move, alongside the launch of SMAC + Projects—a project space for more intimate and experimental exhibitions located five minutes from the flagship gallery—marked a “critical refocusing” for the gallery, in Sandri’s words.

After 17 years of advocating for southern African artists, SMAC is sharpening its focus on Cape Town, which has become an increasingly influential hub of the international art world. Since the gallery first moved into the city 13 years ago, Cape Town has welcomed various major art institutions and events—including the Investec Cape Town Art Fair, the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Africa Art, and the Norval Foundation—plus a dynamic cohort of local galleries with increasing international reach, such as 99 Loop Gallery and THK Gallery.

With its freshly reinforced presence in the city, SMAC is poised to elevate its artists at the center of this hotbed.

“These new locations make it possible for us to expand our footprint within the City Centre, an area full of opportunity,” Sandri said. “We are now situated within a growing ecosystem of commercial galleries and a bustling commercial and cultural hub.”

Sandri is particularly excited about the next two years in the new Cape Town locations, which will host a series of solo exhibitions of its represented artists. First up was the South African painter Kate Gottgens’s “Her Fine Blades,” on view through April 6th. The painter first exhibited with SMAC in Cape Town in 2013 and is now one of the gallery’s more established artists—an example of an artist whose career grew hand-in-hand with SMAC.

Meanwhile, SMAC + Projects is a continuation of the gallery’s commitment to emerging and experimental art. The space plans to host an artist residency, which will welcome international artists to create a dialogue between Cape Town and other art communities.

In addition to its focus on emerging artists, SMAC’s program is also characterized by its emphasis on materiality, abstraction, strong representation of women artists (including Michaela Younge, Mary Sibande, and Marlene Steyn), and experimental practices—such as the South African artist Ledelle Moe, who is known for massive concrete and steel sculptures that test the boundaries of conventional commercial gallery spaces.