Carl Hopgood

Hopgood attended Goldsmiths College in London, England where he graduated in 1994 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and First Class Honors. Hopgood studied under the guidance of Michael Craig-Martin at Goldsmiths College and graduated in the same year as Alessandra Raho, Angela Cruz, and Ceal Floyer of the YBA generation.

Hopgood's set design for editorial and commercial clients in print and television includes Ellen von Unwerth, Nadine Coyle, Gwen Stefani, Nicola Roberts, Kate Moss, and Linda Evangelista. His editorial and commercial credits include Vogue Magazine, Elle Magazine, Marie Claire Magazine, GQ Magazine, Easy Living Magazine, D Magazine, Booklett Magazine, Nokia, Bally, Kurt Geiger, Sky HD TV, H&M, Target, and Channel 4. He has worked with photographers Hunter & Gatti, Elisabeth Hoff, Karen Collins, Alexi Lubomirski, Julian Broad and David Burton.

Hopgood's work "Digital Taxidermy" was featured on Project Runway All Stars in 2016. Hopgood is also a production and set designer and designs sets for theatre, film and television. Most notably, for The Hurly Burly Show with William Baker (Creative Director for Kylie Minogue).

Hopgood's work plays with the idea of existence, appearance and reality through the practical use of projection to create an illusionary nature. He creates a liminal space for the viewer, which exists in a state of transference from reality to dream and back again. The projector on solid plaster forms, which in itself is an index of another figure, only becomes "alive" when the projector is present.

Adrian Searle, art critic for The Independent, wrote, "Hopgood's work depends as much on the awkwardness of his medium as on the novelty of the spectacle."

Solo exhibitions

Hopgood had his first two solo exhibitions "Arrivals, Departures" at the Karsten Schubert Gallery in London and the Waddington Custot Gallery in Cork Street, London, (curated by Hester van Royen) in 1994. Studio d'Arte Contemporanea di Pino Casagrande in Rome organized a solo exhibition of Hopgood's work in 1997. He has since had solo exhibitions at The Groucho Club, London in 2003, at White Cubicle, London (curated by Pablo León de la Barra) in 2007, at Grey Space, Sydney in 2008, at a pop up show at the Groucho Club Bedrooms, London (curated by Nicky Carter) in 2009, and at the Minnie Weisz Studio, London in 2011.

Group exhibitions

Hopgood's first major group exhibition "False Impressions" was presented by the British School at Rome (curated by Alison Jacques, owner of Alison Jacques Gallery) in 1997. The exhibition also featured artists Lucy Gunning, Cerith Wyn Evans, Richard Patterson, Alessandra Raho, Kerry Stewart, and Catherine Yass. Professor Marina Wallace of Art Monthly reviewed Hopgood's piece in the September 1997 edition of the publication, stating:

'Finally in a room totally devoted to it is a statuesque plaster cast by Carl Hopgood. 'Sleeping Figure' is as white and cold as marble, the dignified "portrait" of a sleeping man, evocative of a classical sculpture. Yet, disconcertingly, it breathes through the life support machine of a 16mm film projection of a "living" color image animated by camera shake.'

He has since showcased his work in the celebrity exhibition and auction "Platform Six" at The South Bank, which offers insight of London-based LGB artists, including Boy George, to Platform Six patrons Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Sir Elton John and Kylie Minogue.

His work has been featured in multiple group exhibitions, including the Goldsmiths Degree Show, London in 1994, the ARCO Art Fair, Madrid in 1995, Spacex Gallery, Exeter (curated by Alex Farquharson) in 1996, the Bracknell Gallery, Reading in 1996, the St. Martin's M.A. Show, London in 1997, Art Energie Art in Jeans, Florence in 1998, 3 Mills Studios, London in 1999, Barbican Arts Group Open Exhibition, London in 2004 and 2007, Frame Gallery Shaftesbury Avenue, London in 2006, The Groucho Club, London in 2008, 2009 and 2010, Daneyal Mahmood Gallery, New York in 2009, Forster Gallery, London in 2009, Lazarides Gallery, London in 2009, Tate Modern, Berlin in 2009 and 2011, Truman Brewery, London in 2011 and 2012, and OXO Tower, London in 2013.

Collections

Hopgood's work can be found in international public and private collections, including The Groucho Club's permanent art collection and Museo Jumex, Mexico. His work is collected by Eugenio López Alonso.

Hopgood's neon word piece "Love Yourself" sold at a charity auction hosted by Kenny Goss for MTV's Staying Alive Foundation at the Dallas Contemporary Museum. The auction raised over $2.7 million for the Goss-Michael Foundation and the Staying Alive Foundation.