Hopare - 20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Day Sale in Association with Poly Auction Hong Kong Sunday, June 6, 2021 | Phillips

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  • His bronze sculptures give him the opportunity to further explore the formal possibilities of the dissociation between the face and its envelope. The surrounding air makes the harshness of the metal metamorphose into scraps of gold leaves, which we dont know whether they cover the face or emanate from it, thus bringing bronze to a state of fragility never seen before. A breath of life. Stéphane Corréard

    Phillips Hong Kong is excited to present the work of rising star Hopare for the first time at auction. 

     

     

    A street artist by training, Paris-based Alexandre Monteiro, aka Hopare, hails from the same radical, iconoclastic origins as former street artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and KAWS. Aged 12 Hopare came across an old factory covered in graffiti, and there he made his first marks. Barely a year later Hopare completed his first significant mural, honing his skills in abandoned warehouses and rail depots.

     

    Hopare, Louvre

    Install view of Hopare’s sculptures at the Place du Louvre, Paris

    Credit: Gilles Bretin

     

    Hopare’s ability to move effortlessly between different modes of production in order to achieve his artistic vision is an admirable trait, and working in sculpture was perhaps the most logical step for an artist used to portraying the visceral and three-dimensional on canvas. Beginning his sculptural practice in 2018 and partnering with the JLB Atelier de Création foundry in Nice, Hopare worked on a series of bronze deconstructed faces. Five monumental sculptures from this series are being exhibited in front of the Louvre Museum in Paris from March to May 2021, including two large format sculptures of CatharsisCatharsis brings to life Hopare’s signature vectorial lines, with the delineated wisps floating away from their anchors in defiance of their physical medium. These faces represent those of the world, and with a potent symbolism are turned towards art, the community and the future. Coming at a time when museums remain closed and the art world faces more challenges than ever before, Hopare’s project, with its simple message of humanity and hope, is more relevant than ever.

     

     

    Hopare Catharsis
    Install view of Hopare’s sculptures at the Place du Louvre, Paris
    Credit: Gilles Bretin

    "Before the pandemic I used to travel a lot. The inspiration for my work had always been linked to travel: it was always about the people I was meeting, I would grab my camera or my notebooks and I would draw immediately these instants in life or these moments I was interested in, some gestures, feelings, and I would transcribe them afterwards onto the canvas. Since the pandemic began, I have had to find new sources of inspiration. Now my portraits and the bodies I am working on are often linked to music I am listening to, or stories I am reading." —Hopare

    Catharsis was conceived after listening to a song by French hip-hop artist Melan, whose lyrics and mood struck a timely chord with Hopare: "I really found myself in his words and suddenly, it was a kind of a synonym for me in relation to the purification of the soul, the opening of the mind, etc, because I was in the midst of a period where I had doubts about my work and I had just moved away from canvases a little to get into sculpture."
     

     

     

     

    The artist and his work at the Place du Louvre, Paris
    Credit: Gilles Bretin

     

    Hopare has developed close ties with Asia over the course of his 15-year long career, and Phillips is honoured to present his work for the very first time at auction in Asia. Invited to participate in the 2015 HKWALLS street art festival, Hopare’s mural can still be seen in Sheung Wan, whilst works created for the 2018 Cicada Festival for GmoMA in South Korea have also attracted international acclaim. Invited ahead of the legendary Super Bowl, Hopare painted Symphony (2019), an over 10,000 square-foot mural in downtown Atlanta.

     

    Hopare, Sheung Wan HK

    Install view of Hopare’s mural for the 2015 HKWALLS street art festival in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
     

    Hopare, Korea

     Install view of Hopare’s mural for the Cicada Festival for GmoMA, 2018 in Dongducheon, South Korea

     

    [1] Stéphane Corréard, Hopare, exh. cat., Paris, 2020, pp. 1-5

    [2] Germano Celant, ‘BD and K’, exh. cat., KAWS 1993-2010, New York, 2010, p. 47

    [3] Hopare, quoted in Laura Audibert, ‘Hopare: Iconic’, GRAFFITIART #55, April/May 2021, p. 78

    • Provenance

      Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

    • Exhibited

      Paris, La Place du Louvre, Hopare, 23 March - 30 May 2021 (another example exhibited)

149

Catharsis

incised with the artist's signature and number 'E.A I/IV HOPARE' and stamped with the foundry mark on the reverse
bronze
83 x 52 x 41 cm. (32 5/8 x 20 1/2 x 16 1/8 in.)
Executed in 2020, this work is artist proof 1 from an edition of 8 plus 4 artist's proofs.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
HK$160,000 - 250,000 
€16,800-26,300
$20,500-32,100

Sold for HK$403,200

Contact Specialist

Danielle So
Associate Specialist, Head of Day Sale
DanielleSo@phillips.com

20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Day Sale in Association with Poly Auction

Hong Kong Auction 7 June 2021