Opening Reception: May 25, 6:00 – 8:00 PM
The artist will be present at the opening reception.

Whitestone Gallery Hong Kong is proud to present “Play around the World”, the first Asia gallery exhibition of internationally renowned artist Florentijn Hofman (Netherlands, 1977). Best known for large scale urban installations like Rubber Duck (2007) and Hippopo Thames (2014), this is Hofman’s first solo presentation in an Asian gallery space. Hofman will debut a new series of works Inspired by Line, his line drawings, and Play around the World, re-scaled ceramic sculptures from his previous much-loved public installations. With this new body of works, Hofman discovers the beauty from pure shapes and materials while exploring the ideas of scale and perspective.

Bringing Hofman’s international projects such as Rubber Duck and Fat Monkey into a gallery space is the key idea of the Play around the World series. By juxtapositioning sculptures that were created for very specific locations in the world, it brings elements from each of those places into the gallery space, connecting them and fostering interaction between them and audiences. Hofman specifically chose ceramic for the small-scale sculptures because it evokes the clean and pure shapes of the original works with a sophisticated sheen. Hosting his first gallery exhibition in Asia was also a consideration, as ceramics are an important part of the cultural heritage of the region.

In addition, a number of brand new works from the recent Line series will be on view. These drawings consist of simple lines, a form that is an important part of Hofman’s aesthetics. To explore the essence and the beauty of form and shape, the artist created these minimalistic works in the shape of animal. Hofman intentionally selected endangered animals as the subject matter and created the shapes much larger than life size to emphasize the humbling force of nature. A simple line is a core and the only element that creates the animal shape. The line not only sculpts the figurative shape in the space but also divides it into the outer space and the inner space. By leaving the space with possibilities, Hofman invites the audience to interact with the shape and fill the spaces with their own imaginations.