Henk Hofstra (artist)

Henk J. Hofstra is a Dutch visual artist (* 1952 in Terwispel ). His specialty are large, mostly walk-in installations that refer to the history of his country, his city or other world events. He also paints large, strongly colored pictures in the impressionist style and is also a sculptor. He lives and works in Drachten .

biography

Henk Hofstra first grew up as an only child in a working class family. His career aspirations were pilot or schumacher, his role model was a neighbor, Harm Bron. He had equipped a self-made canoe with a moped engine and let little Henk ride with him. However, the father made sure that Henk began studying art at the Artibus art academy in Utrecht at the age of 17 , but broke off a year later. But one of the teachers from this institution, Ralph Prins , had a strong influence on the further development of Hofstra. A few years later he graduated from the Minerva Academy in Groningen and graduated in the late 1970s as a painter, sculptor and designer. Hofstra had earned his studies by doing part-time work as a designer. In all training steps, he kept an open and impartial view of his surroundings. Things that other people pass unnoticed aroused Hofstra's interest. After graduating, he designed all kinds of consumer goods and painted everyday pictures in refreshing colors. With such a picture he achieved his artistic breakthrough when the director of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol paid 10,000 guilders for a picture . This led to a great demand for Hofstra's pictures and he went into business for himself.

In parallel to painting, he designed art installations for public spaces, which made him better known in the art scene.

Henk Hofstra is married to Tsjitske, who is one of his biggest fans. She praises his work: “It is by dy in kwestje fan enerzjy. Dér hast do in hiele protte fan. Mar soms is it ynienen op. Dan are gewoan eefkes leech. "(Loosely translated:" It is a question of your energy. Many fans follow you and you can orientate yourself by it. ")

In addition to working on his art objects in his own studio, Hofstra also offers introductory art courses and master classes. He also gives lectures upon invitation.

Works (selection)

overview

Hofstra's projects often depict a social situation, or they interpret environmental events in his own way . The striking, large-scale sculptures attract interested parties from all over the world to the installation sites. The main material of his simplified easy-to-understand representations is plastic , which is emphasized with strong colors. His projects can be found in the Netherlands and other European countries, in Russia , in the USA , in Asia or in South America .

Here is a small selection:

Sculptures (selection)

Boven water 2010

• Carcrisis , Rotterdam , lots of small red cars create a traffic chaos , in the middle between them is a blue vehicle of the same size
• Kissingeggs (Kissing Eggs), in Wuhan Province, China ; shows two huge fried eggs over a large area that connect with each other. The visitors / viewers can lie down on the area.
• Kissing Eggs , Santiago de Chile location ; smooth hemispheres shaped as egg yolks can be hugged or kissed by visitors; was installed on the occasion of a house festival
• 2007: Drachtstervaart (water is life): a blue foil welded over the entire width of a real asphalt road in Drachten stretches for several hundred meters in a dead straight line and thus symbolizes a river. The road is cleared for normal use (pedestrians, cyclists, cars). At the end of the blue band - The blue road / Water weg water (The blue road) - a blue car of the same color sinks into the surface. The project was commissioned by the city administration for the beautification. The implementation of the project was preceded by brainstorming in the city council with ten Dutch artists. Ideas such as setting up numerous small art galleries also came up on the table. Hofstra won the small competition with the idea of ​​redesigning an entire street in bright blue and highlighting individual objects in it. After completing the installations, many international glossy magazines reported on the rather crazy idea and made fun of it. But opinions soon turned, children climbed around on the installations and finally the Blue Street brought many art visitors to the small town.
• 2008: Eccident , Leeuwarden location ; 18 fried eggs, each around 30 m in diameter, regularly distributed over an area, form the base for grass and flower seeds. The eggs were removed at the end of the same year.
• Ladybugs , St. Petersburg location , several red black dotted igloo-like structures (like the back armor of ladybirds) stand on a meadow in front of a shopping center
• 2010: 500 Mieren , also called Miereninvasie (500 ants), location Theater De Lawei in Drachten; About 500 red ants crawl out of a large red blob of paint in front of the theater as a two-dimensional representation on the surface; on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the theater
• 2010: Boven water ; symbolizes the constant fight against floods, location Lelystad (Bataviahaven). A half-submerged, large hairless head, with the water almost up to its lips, looks around with bright blue eyes. On his head is a life-size man, cast in bronze, with a suitcase in hand, waiting for people to save him from the flood.
• 2012: Kika Cars , Hofstra has a New Beetle with colored dots of different sizes that also overlap and painted with colored rays emanating from the VW logo on the hood. In addition, many famous and unknown Dutch people have left a handprint on the body.
  KiKa is an aid fund for children with cancer that has existed since 2002; Hofstra carried out the painting as a commissioned work for the fund operator.
  The beetle was then auctioned. A private person who sponsors the SC Heerenveen bought the vehicle. It is used as a delivery vehicle for a manufacturer of cleaning and hygiene products and thus constantly advertises the children's aid fund and remains in Friesland .

Pictures (selection)

Numerous pictures of Hofstrat are in galleries: in the Artacasa in Amsterdam , in the art salon De KunstSalon in Utrecht , in the salon of his brother Henk Hofstra in Drachten as well as in the Bilderberg Hotel Landgoed Lauswolt in Beetsterzwaag , where they belong to the house collection. His pictures show everyday situations, people, encounters, light and radiate happiness.

Some pictures, their dimensions and their locations are:

• Tjitske in Moskou op het , Moscow ; 55 × 100 cm
• Inner edge
• Café De Magere Brug , (60 × 80 cm)
• Kerkplein (church square), (80 × 80 cm)
• Brandon , 8080 cm
• Von Zuylen , Amsterdam, (70 × 70 cm)
• t'smalle (70 × 70 cm)
• Terres Nafplio (80 × 70 cm)
• Market , Amsterdam, (60 × 90 cm)
• Zomeravond (summer evening), (85 × 70 cm)
• vijf rode panden (five red buildings), (75 × 75 cm)
• Hemerstraat , Amsterdam, (90 × 55 cm)

Web links

• Brief information about Henk Hofstra on RKDartists.
• Peter Grondsma: Verwondering , biography and a short overview of Hofstra's work, including a photo of the artist. 2008-06-21, Leeuwarder Courant.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Henk Hofstra. Retrieved March 24, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Leeuwarder egg art verwijderd , on de Krant van Toen, Leeuwarder Courant , 2008-12-18.
3. ↑ Speciale Kika beetle blijft in Friesland , 30 March 2012; accessed on March 25, 2020.
4. ↑ Homepage Kika , accessed on March 25, 2020 (Dutch).