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Senses Graffiti Flemish Lion
Steit’s Senses Graffiti Flanders Lion reinterprets the iconic Flemish Lion with sensory force, Sprayed across the gold field, the Flemish Lion refuses to settle. Black or red-clawed, heritage or stain, it carries centuries of dispute. From medieval shields to wartime propaganda, from federal debates to street protests, the lion remains a contested image of pride and fracture.
Through sensory pairings like LOOK & SEE and TOUCH & FEEL, Steit unsettles the emblem’s authority. The lion is not simply seen, but weighed, argued, carried. It roars with questions: Whose history does it speak? Whose struggle does it mark? And can a symbol once claimed be made whole again?
500,00 €
Detail image
Detail showing the multi layer buildup with the blue painted lion partially covered in yellow paint.
Detail showing the multi layer buildup, the red lion in-between spray sessions
Detail showing the multi layer buildup
Studio image
Studio image making the piece. This is the initial yellow layer with the text covering the bare canvas, then black and yellow again while shifting the texts. Top right you see the stencil that I used to paint the lions.
Studio image
Studio photo during creation in Kalmthout, Belgium. Here the coloured lions are added. The square pattern is from the overspray, this shows the dynamic and layering of the process.
Description
The Flemish Lion
The Flemish Lion first appeared in the Middle Ages, a black figure on a golden field. In some images it was rendered plain, in others with red claws and tongue. Across centuries the emblem shifted, carrying with it the tension between heritage, power and interpretation.
During the Second World War it was adopted by collaborators, and the black and gold lion became stained by association with occupation and propaganda. In the 1970s, as Belgium entered its federal transformation, the debate re-emerged. Parliament chose the red-clawed lion as the official emblem, while the black and gold lion remained in the hands of those who sought resistance, struggle or a harder edge of identity.
Today the two versions live side by side. One speaks of institutions and formal authority. The other carries the weight of defiance and memory. Neither is neutral, both remain charged.
To hear the lion is to listen to political voices raised. To look is to see colour loaded with history. To smell is to sense the smoke of war and the ink of chronicles. To taste is to savour heritage, sharp and sweet. To touch is to feel belonging and division. To learn is to know that symbols never rest.
Created in Kalmthout, Belgium, August 2025.
Original artwork specifications
- Stretched Canvas
- Glossy Multi Colour Spray Paint
- Varnish
- 60 x 60 x 1.5 cm
- Unique artwork
Canvas may have a slight size deviation up to a few millimetres.
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