VILLAZAN is pleased to present "(UN)SETTLING", an exhibition with new paintings by Willem Hoeffnagel that have never before been shown in an exhibition. The presentation also marks the artist’s first exhibition with the gallery in Madrid.

In this exhibition the artist takes us into an unsettling world, in which the enigmatic characters are presented faceless but with expressive oval eyes. The figurative yet faceless paintings by the Dutch artist, born in Arnhem in 1995, deliberately conceal their faces because the characters are meant to give room for interpretation, not putting a big emphasis on who it is, with some exceptions when it’s a self portrait for example, so that the viewer can look more into what they feel is the story rather than who it is about.

The paintings can be divided into two groups, comfortable situations and uncomfortable ones, which paintings are put in which category is up to the viewer. Some may feel unsettling to one person and completely comfortable to someone else.

When creating these anthropomorphic figures, Hoeffnagel fuses elements of cartoons with art historical references. Hoeffnagel has always been interested in drawing and painting from an early age. After successfully completing a bachelor in entrepreneurship in Amsterdam, Willem enrolled in ArtEZ Zwolle to study illustration design. From that point on, he consolidated his style and has shown his works in galleries throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.

The exhibition will be open at VILLAZAN LAB until May 28th.