Bart Smeets, better known in art world as Smates, is a Belgian street artist who was born 1978 in Asse (close to Brussels). He studied graphic design at Sint-Lukas Brussels and graduated as a graphic designer. Bart has always been a fan of realistic drawings and paintings, therefore after graduation he took painting classes for 2 years, which helped him to become the artist he is today.
He finds his inspiration in the surroundings of the walls he paints and sometimes from the wall itself. He attempts to create art that fits the wall and works with displaying depth and 3D illusions. Besides Belgium, Bart has painted in Malta and Bristol. He hopes to expand and paint more in different countries and paint on bigger walls all around the world.
SMATES
FLM: Can you tell us a bit about your childhood? Did you always want to be an artist?
BS: I have been drawing since I was a little kid however I wanted to be a cartoonist. I went to art school and became a graphic designer. After 13 years I quit and became a fulltime street artist.
My friends and my family support my work, but it to my mother I took a while to understand what I actually did was actually a 'real' job.
FLM: Unlike some street artists, you have a pretty traditional art education. Can you describe how this has influenced your development as a street artist?
I started going to art school when I was 16 or 17 and did 6 years of model drawing, which has been a big influence for my paintings. I paint pretty realistic images so it is important to know something about anatomy etc. And when I started working I took painting classes during night school. That's where I learned to work with colors.
FLM: Can you share how you first got into street art?
BS: I met a guy, Serge, at school who did graffiti and I started to paint with him. I stopped for about 10 years and then in 2009 met a guy named Peter, who also he did graffiti. He wanted to paint with me so I started again and I never stopped.
FLM: Did your time away from street art give you a better perception of the sort of art you wanted to create?
BS: My time away didn't really give me a better perception. But when I started again it was clear that graffiti had very much evolved with better (low pressure) cans, more colors and a lot more crazy murals. The street art I used to create at the beginning of my art career was very "how do you do this and that..." oriented. Now I have a good base, but still have to a lot to learn and I'm focusing much more on concepts.
There are a lot of really talented people painting so that's really motivating.
FLM: You mentioned that to be a good artist, you have to study those more talented than you. Can you share which artists that have really influenced your work?
BS: For me it isn't really one artist, but more about the painting, murals, canvasses that I see online. One of my best friends in the graffiti scene, Steve Locatelli, has always been an inspiration. I like classical painters; Hopper, Bacon, Sam Dillemans, Michael Borremans, .. And of course as a realistic painter I like Belin, Ma'claim, but I'm also a huge fan of Daim.
FLM: Can you tell us a bit more about the work you do. Is it commissioned by the government or is it for private building owners?
BS: I do all kinds of work, but I'm a fulltime artist because I have to pay my bills. I work for private people, the government, companies etc...
FLM: Can you describe a particularly challenging project you worked on?
BS: The last big project I did was at the EXPO MILANO 2015 with Steve Locatelli ( EXPO was commissioned by Italian artist Felice Limosani). It was really challenging, because we combined our 2 different styles and made one big mural called 'The Hunt'. It was really hard to paint and we didn't make it easy on ourselves because of the complexity of the image. Another challenging project consisted of a big shark coming out of the wall. The wall was huge and I did it without a projector or grid, which was very stressful.
FLM: Many of your works include water imagery in them. Can you explain?
BS: That's something I started doing because it creates an environment to for the character. I like it but I don't think I will do much more water oriented paintings. I have had it with painting water.
FLM: Can you share what you hope to do with your art in the future?
BS: I just hope it continues on the current path. Painting around the world on big walls provides a lot of freedom to do what I want to do.