Royal Academy for Visual Arts, The Hague, The Netherlands
1978-1983: day courses fashion styling, textile monumental

Free Academy, The Hague, Netherlands
1996-2004: special monumental, etching, digital photography, video, philosophy

EXPOSITIONS:

1997 Galerie Sidac, Leiden, The Netherlands

1999 Sculpture exposition, Twisk, The Netherlands

2001 Solo O.B., Voorschoten, The Netherlands

2002 Solo N.W.O., The Hague, The Netherlands

2003 Sculpture exposition, Leiden, The Netherlands

2004 Exposition with Joseph Semah, The Hague, The Netherlands

2004 Solo exposition, Ch. Triomfator, The Hague, The Netherlands

2006 Galerie Haags, The Hague, The Netherlands

2006 Schloss Wickrath, Mönchengladbach, Germany

2006 Galerie Electrolokaal, Leiden, The Netherlands

2007 Galerie De Grunerie, Oegstgeest, The Netherlands

2007 Th Gallery, The Hague, The Netherlands

2007 Th Gallery, The Hague, The Netherlands, “Preview 2007-2008”

2007 Pulchri Studio, The Hague, The Netherlands, “Sculpture in progress”

The work of Maria Smits (1960, Delft) is characterised by duality.
Her statues and drawings seem to be two things at the same time.
The animal skin, the layer between the body and the outer world and caretaker for protection and warmth, plays an important role in her work. Or in fact the absence of the skin: Smits is investigating what will happen if the skin is not there, like you are confronted with the naked animal.
On one hand this leads to associations with being unborn or even deceased, on the other hand it shows like an anatomic lesson the muscular parties of the animal. Vulnerability and power are shown in the same image. To invoke this state of bare existence, Smits builds her statues out of cheap and simple materials; she uses bicycle-tyres, wood, jute, ty-ribs, iron wire and foam rubber, in a similar way to the artists of the Arte Povera movement.

All the decisions made by Maria Smits during the working process, remain visible in her animals. The result is an object that incontestably generates emotions. Strangely enough, while looking untouchable caused by these raw materials, these statues contain for that very reason a remarkable tactility.