PRESS RELEASE
M A S C U L U S
the male domain
LIMITED EDITION /200
A WALK THROUGH the PRIVATE LIVES and DOMAINS OF SOUTH AFRICAN MEN.
I gradually became interested in a field that hasn’t been explored much: Men and their interiors, how they feather their nests. There might be publications on the theme, but I have never come across one. I am constantly looking for something that hasn’t been done yet. I am interested in promoting this concept worldwide and have already had talks in Paris for a MASCULUS Series featuring the style of different men from different countries.’ Smit is a writer and was a shoot location owner of Mudhouse and Runaway Royalty, where she welcomed teams from around the world. She has seen everything from make-up artists for Vogue to teams for Marie Claire booked at her locations, featured in Côté Sud and has been on the front cover of Elle Décor – Italia. She has always been interested in combining her sense of style and her curating abilities.
It has been a busy two years for her, being 99% finished with her coffee table publication MASCULUS – The Male Domain. “The cover is epic. We all know what a good-looking coffee table book can do for a drab mouse house,” she says, winking. ‘Coffee table books are weapons of interior mass destruction.’ Smit is also nearly finished with another publication, an illustrated novel.
“I love intellect, whether it is applied to a dusty cave or a pristine princedom. I can appreciate a clonky piece of pottery made by a child the one day and a delicate piece of Japanese porcelain the next. I am drawn to mostly maximalist style, a touch of madness, a bit of humour, and a hint of kitsch when it comes to taste. I adore the style of Michele Aka Doner. Interiors where work and play coexist in a chaotic laboratory of archaeology and challenge. Practicality is a very unsexy word, best left for a pair of Scholls Health shoes. The Rome dwelling of Cy Twombly – sparse and empty and somehow captivating. But it is the design visions and flair of the Tangiers expats, mostly men, that keep me enthralled for another floorshow – those lazy Sunday luncheons which flow from a well-worn interior and some sharp banter to amuse.
“My interior book is titled MASCULUS, for Latin is as universal a language as style is. The men featured in MASCULUS come from all over South Africa. I wanted to include even more, but at a hefty 540 pages, I had to draw the line somewhere.
“I have chosen these men for the haphazard way in which they throw things together and carry on with it. I have chosen them for their spirit, that special voice of fire, the way they all know exactly who they are and what they adore.
“Everywhere I went with my photographers Yvette Jordaan, Dirk Pieters and Mia Ziervogel, we were met with love and warmth that still thaws the popsicles of our hardened city hearts. In a Limited Edition of 200, 23 Male Domains are featured. My daughter, Sirette Hare, is the Graphic Designer on the book… we keep it in the family!
Here is a glimpse….
David’s beautifully styled verandah for relaxing at the end of a busy day with a glass of chilled SA wine..
Onsite’s talented Stylist, Michiel – our style magician
MASCULUS – The Male Domain – LIMITED EDITION /200
IN A LANDMARK LIMITED EDITION OF 560 PAGES, LEONI SMIT WALKS THROUGH 23 HOMES AND STUDIOS OF SOUTH AFRICAN MEN, SHOWCASING THEIR INTERESTS in the rare, the forgotten and the overlooked – foraged materials, dark academia, embroidery, restoration, invention and art. SMIT SHARES PERSONAL GLIMPSES OF THESE ILLUSTRIOUS MEN AND THE JOYS OF THEIR EXCEPTIONAL STYLE.
PACKED IN A MOSSGREEN BOX, WITH 23 ADDITIONAL FOLD-OUT IMAGES, MASCULUS WILL LOOK GREAT ON ANY TABLE AND WILL BE A DISCUSSION POINT IN ANY SPHERE – CONTEMPLATING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MALE- AND FEMALE-GENERATED INTERIORS…IF ANY.
MEN FEATURED
BERNIE DIEDERICKS, COBUS VAN NIEKERK, DAPPER (WILLEM) DE WET, DAVID BELL, GERHARD SWART & ANTHONY C. HARRIS, GERT VAN DE MERWE & JACO JANSE VAN RENSBURG, HEIN LIEBENBERG & JACQUES ERASMUS, HYLTON NEL, JAN-GEORG SOLMS, JANHARM VORSTER & PIETER VOSLOO, JAN SAUER LAMBRECHTS, JOOD MOMBERG, JOHANN LOUW, LAURENT BAYARD, LAURIE VAN HEERDEN & KEVIN REINDERS, LOUIS JANSE VAN VUUREN & HARDY OLIVIER, MARC WATSON & JAMES MOFFATT, NHLANHLA ERIC FOLOGWE, NIEL STEMMET, NICOLAAS MARITZ, PHILLIP VAN STADEN, SCOTT HART & TIELMAN DE VILIIERS, WIM VAN ZYL
AUTHOR AND CREATIVE DIRECTION – LEONI SMIT
PHOTOGRAPHY – YVETTE JORDAAN
GRAPHIC DESIGN – SIRETTE HARE
INTRODUCTION – KIM SIEBERT
Size – 518 x 245 mm
PRICE – R3 950.00
DM LEONI SMIT VIA: FACEBOOK, OR CHEAPARISTOCRAT ON INSTAGRAM FOR DETAIL ON SALES.
