Hannes Verhoeven working on "Slow Down" in his studio

HANNES VERHOEVEN

Dutch contemporary sculptor (b. 1984, Esbeek) whose bronze, resin, and marble-composite figures merge children and animals — hares, foxes, eagles, bulls — with rural life and myth.

HANNES VERHOEVEN

BIOGRAPHY
Hannes Verhoeven (b. 1984, Esbeek, Netherlands) is a Dutch contemporary sculptor working from his atelier in Esbeek, Noord Brabant. The core of his visual language is the pairing of human and animal figures — children dressed as hares, foxes, eagles, and bulls, and mythological human-animal hybrids — set against rural, lived-in imagery and social narrative. Small and medium works are made mostly in bronze, resin, and marble composite; his environmental and public projects use steel, steel wire, and wood.

Discussing “Slow Down,” the artist’s official 2026 materials describe the contrast between a quick hare and a slow snail as a metaphor for speed and time, with the seated, meditating child figure representing pause and conscious presence. Marble composite, per the same source, blends resin with fine marble powder into a soft surface close to the quality of skin.

PUBLIC WORKS
“De Melkfabriek,” a steel-and-wood structure addressing the industrialization of agriculture, is the most prominent public work on the artist’s own site. A bronze portrait of Frank Koulen — Verhoeven’s design, chosen from among three proposals and deliberately set at street level without a pedestal — was unveiled in Terneuzen on 15 September 2018. Verhoeven also played an organizing role in Esbeek’s Sculpture Expo Esbeek (SEE), showing his human-and-animal works at his atelier and sculpture garden there.

REPRESENTATION
Named on the artist’s own channels as represented through Van Loon Galleries and Sille Gallery / Sille Select.

Public sources do not give a full account of formal education, awards, or museum holdings, so none are claimed here.

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Hannes Verhoeven, "Slow Down," marble composite, 80 cm — child in a hare costume seated cross-legged holding a small gilded snail

“Slow Down”
Marble composite
80 cm

Hannes Verhoeven, "Balance 2.0," marble composite, 65 cm — child in a fox costume holding small gilded animal figurines

“Balance 2.0”
Marble composite
65 cm

Hannes Verhoeven, "Learning to Fly," marble composite, 60 cm — child in an eagle costume with wings spread

“Learning to Fly”
Marble composite
60 cm

Hannes Verhoeven, "Here Comes the Rain," marble composite, 75 cm — child in a bull costume, arms spread wide

“Here Comes the Rain”
Marble composite
75 cm

Hannes Verhoeven, "Slow Down in Bell Jar," marble composite in glass case, 33 cm — the seated hare-costume figure displayed under a bell jar

“Slow Down in Bell Jar”
Marble composite, glass case
33 cm

Hannes Verhoeven, "Pas De Deux," bronze, 70 cm — child in a horse costume and tutu, mid dance pose

“Pas De Deux”
Bronze
70 cm

Hannes Verhoeven, "Here Comes the Rain," bronze, 75 cm — child in a bull costume, arms spread wide, bronze edition

“Here Comes the Rain”
Bronze
75 cm

Hannes Verhoeven, "Balance," bronze, 65 cm — child in a fox costume holding small gilded animal figurines, bronze edition

“Balance”
Bronze
65 cm

Hannes Verhoeven, "Learning to Fly," resin, 95 cm — child in an eagle costume with wings spread, larger resin edition

“Learning to Fly”
Resin
95 cm

Hannes Verhoeven, "Farm Knight Boy," bronze, 70 cm — child with a gilded bull-head mask, raised sword, hand on hip

“Farm Knight Boy”
Bronze
70 cm

Hannes Verhoeven, "Praying Farm Girl," bronze, 60 cm — winged child figure with hands in prayer and a gilded mask element

“Praying Farm Girl”
Bronze
60 cm

Hannes Verhoeven, "Mercy," bronze, 60 cm — a child-torsoed unicorn centaur figure with hands in prayer

“Mercy”
Bronze
60 cm

Hannes Verhoeven, "Farm Nymph," bronze, 35 cm — a winged, bull-headed reclining nude female figure

“Farm Nymph”
Bronze
35 cm

Hannes Verhoeven, "Cow Woman," steel, 300 cm — an outdoor wireframe sculpture of a reclining cow-woman figure

“Cow Woman”
Steel
300 cm

Hannes Verhoeven, "De Melkfabriek," steel and wood, 800 cm — a large outdoor grazing cow sculpture, public work

“De Melkfabriek”
Steel and wood, public work
800 cm

In “Slow Down,” Hannes Verhoeven Asks a Hare to Notice a Snail
Hannes Verhoeven, "Slow Down," marble composite, 80 cm — child in a hare costume seated cross-legged holding a small gilded snail
Lagos Biennial Returns With “The Museum of Things Unseen”
Entrance of the National Museum in the Onikan cultural district of Lagos, Nigeria, host city of the Lagos Biennial
The 18th Biennale de Lyon Turns the City’s Hidden Passageways Into a Theme
Ornate wood-paneled interior gallery of the Musée des Tissus et des Arts Décoratifs in Lyon

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