For his Sculptissimo series, long time AKI tutor Hans Hovy (born Amsterdam, 1953) has chosen to use two soft, translucent types of stone: soapstone and alabaster. The artist has carved, drilled, rasped and sanded with enormous precision. The sculptures on show in the Projects Gallery of the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag from 29 November suggest the organic shapes of the human. body They are sensual and exciting, but also mysterious and humorous. This is the first time Hovy’s work has been exhibited in a museum.
SCULPTURE VOL 34 (2015) #2 A former furniture maker and restorer, Hovy displays a deep understanding of materials, from bronze and cast iron to wood and stone. “Sculptissimo,” his first museum exhibition, features a series of soapstone and alabaster sculptures carved, drilled, filed, and sanded with enormous precision. Gently rounded, playful, and inviting, these pink and white forms exude cuteness. Their innocence, however, is only feigned. Tinged with more than a taste of kimo-kawaii (Japan’s “gross-cute” antidote to a cultural sweet-tooth), they tease, mock, disconcert, and tantalize by means of an ironic and perverse purity. The gently rounded, playful shapes in shades of white and pale pink look almost cuddly.
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