Interview with Willem Hoeffnagel
Willem Hoeffnagel (Arnhem, 1995) is a painter from the Netherlands. Since an early age he has been interested in drawing and painting, and after leaving a bachelor in Entrepreneurship in Amsterdam he pursued his passion by enrolling in ArtEZ Zwolle to study illustration design. During this period he started to develop a personal style, while keeping his horizons open by experimenting with new techniques and ideas. Vroom & Varossieau sat down with Willem to talk about his activities and the upcoming show at KunstRAI 2022.
First of all, how are you and what have you been up to?
I’m doing great! I’m happy to be working on a lot of paintings for upcoming shows, including Kunstrai 2022. I've been happy with the direction of my new paintings and excited to show them all.
Recently, you had a great (sold out) solo show at Art Miami. How does it make you feel that your art is appreciated all over the world?
It is very special to me. It wasn’t a long time ago that I started doing this full-time and to see my paintings exhibited at these different international galleries has been unbelievably exciting. I feel very fortunate and privileged. I strive to make sure more people will enjoy my painting and that I keep improving!
You have an art-style that is undeniably you. When did the draft of the iconic "Hoeffnagel figure" first appear?
That must have started at the age of 10 or something. I remember trying to make little comic book pages in primary school but I noticed how I was dreading to make the text and story but loved the drawing part.
It wasn’t until much later, and many thousands of times drawing “the” figure with changing it slightly every time that I started taking it seriously enough to put it on canvas. That’s when I decided to pursue art and to enter Art school.
Didn’t finish it all the way through, but dedicating all my time to art there definitely made me a better artist.
You will be part of the group exhibition at KunstRAI 2022, what can the visitors expect?
The visitor can expect a colorful variety of paintings. I want it to emit a joyful feeling and wish to make the viewer walking to the next booth feeling a little bit happier.
We definitely think they will. It was a pleasure to catch up with Willem and to see him putting in work, and the result is looking amazing! Make sure to follow him and Vroom & Varossieau Gallery on Instagram. Kunstrai 2022 will take place between 13 and 18 april 2022, more info on this will follow soon.
All shows by Willem Hoeffnagel up until now have been sold out completely. If you are interested in work by Willem, please send your contact details to olivier@vroomandvarossieau.com
