Rafael Smet

I am a painter with a studio in Prague. In 2024, I completed my bachelor's degree in Prague under the tutelage of Roman Franta and Lukáš Miffek. My work is primarily figurative, supplemented by abstract elements. I mainly work with acrylic and oil, focusing on layered compositions that emphasize airiness, contrast, and light. The paintings balance precise construction with an open, contemplative atmosphere.

My work focuses on figurative motifs, which often intertwine with architectural or landscape structures. Primarily, I am interested in aesthetics as a starting point—composition, light, and space—but the narratives that emerge when observing the painting are equally important to me. These narratives are never fixed; instead of telling a specific story, my paintings create situations that invite viewers to project their own experiences, memories, or internal dialogues.

Through carefully constructed layers and controlled contrasts, I strive to create spaces that appear suspended in time—silent, ambiguous, and open. The figures and structures here function less as descriptive elements and more as carriers of atmosphere, allowing the painting to remain unresolved and mentally active in the viewer's mind.

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"Perfect painting technique, realistic depiction, imagination, and fiction represent key anchors of Smet's works. These main aspects distinguish the artist's work from the previous generation of painters. The factually austere conceptual approach gives way to imaginative fabulation. Abstract conception or abstracting painterly handwriting transforms into a detailed examination of reality. Broadly sketched, seemingly hurried brushstrokes transform in Smet's paintings into thoughtfully constructed spatial forms. Controversial socially engaged themes have been omitted, and an introspective probe into the alternative life of the artist's ego becomes the focus."

– Ivona Raimanová 2025

Rafael Smet *2000

Education

2021–2024 - Art & Design Institute, Painting Studio (doc. ak. mal. Roman Franta), Slezská 68, Prague 3 – Vinohrady, 130 00

2011–2019 - Bohumil Hrabal Grammar School in Nymburk, Komenského 779, Nymburk, 288 40

Courses

2025 - Academy of Fine Arts (AVU), U Akademie 172/4, Prague 7 - Bubeneč, 170 00, Figurative Drawing (Radim Langer)

2024–2025 - Scholastika, Římská 103/12,
Prague 2 - Vinohrady, 120 00, Painting (Jitka Mikulicová)

2020 - Scholastika, Římská 103/12,
Prague 2 - Vinohrady, 120 00, Product Design (Matěj Coufal, Eduard Herrmann)

Internships

2023 - HYB4 - Hybernská Campus, Hybernská 4

2023 - ECHO BRUSSELS - Baasbergstraat 5