SmithDavidson Gallery is pleased to announce the launch of "REBELS", an online exhibition featuring the latest work by multidisciplinary Dutch artist Hanne Arends.
“REBELS" centers on the idea of rediscovery. These glass sculptures reflect on the fading sense of playfulness and fearlessness that often comes with adulthood. “When I turned 30, I suddenly wondered: where did that sense of wonder go? That playfulness, doing something just because. The courage to fail. Being curious without fear.” Arends shares. In response, she began creating works that embrace process over perfection, art that emerges from intuition, not planning. Through this collection, she seeks to rediscover the honesty of childhood, what we seem to lose as we age: playfulness, trust, and the freedom to simply be.
Each piece in “REBELS" celebrates freedom, play, and surrender. They reveal what can emerge when we stop trying to control everything—how letting go often leads to something unexpectedly beautiful. Made by hand and without a fixed design, the sculptures invite viewers to pause, reconnect, and let go. “Life can be hard, but that doesn’t mean everything must feel heavy,” she explains. “Sometimes we need to give ourselves permission to be light.”
“REBELS" offers an early look at this new series by Arends and serves as a preview of her upcoming presentation at KunstRAI Art Amsterdam, where SmithDavidson Gallery is pleased to premier the artist’s work.
-
“When I turned 30, I suddenly wondered: where did that sense of wonder go? That playfulness, doing something just because. The courage to fail. Being curious without fear. Rebels is about rediscovery, about creating without a fixed plan. About daring to let go. Life can be hard, but that doesn’t mean everything must feel heavy. Sometimes we need to give ourselves permission to be light."
-
-
About the Artist
Hanne Arends is a Dutch multidisciplinary artist based in Amsterdam. Her work explores social themes through the lens of emotion, identity, and human connection. With an intuitive and bold visual language, Arends creates pieces that invite reflection and emotional engagement, challenging viewers to look beyond surface appearances.
She holds degrees from both the Design Academy Eindhoven (2022) and the Gerrit Rietveld Academie (2023), becoming the first artist to complete both programs simultaneously. This dual education helped shape her distinct artistic voice, one that often investigates paradoxes, the tension between image and reality, and the complexity of the human condition. For her Rietveld graduation, she presented two notable projects. Collective Loneliness a vast ceramic installation exploring the paradox of digital hyperconnectivity and emotional isolation and Freddy Marbic, a marble sculpture mimicking an inflatable chair, humorously critiques the blurred lines between truth and fiction in the age of misinformation.
Arends works across media, blending expressive painting, immersive installations, and sculptural forms. Her use of diverse materials such as marble, ceramics, textiles, and glass reflects her curiosity and deep craftsmanship. Despite the variety, her signature remains unmistakable: precise, emotionally resonant, and subtly absurdist.
Her work resonates on both personal and collective levels, inviting audiences to reconnect with their emotions, question societal norms, and embrace vulnerability.
Through her deeply human and visually striking works, Hanne Arends challenges societal norms while reconnecting us with emotion, imagination, and vulnerability. Her art reminds us that by letting go of control, we often uncover something unexpectedly beautiful.
Selected Exhibitions
2025 - Rosewood Hotel, Collective Loneliness, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2024 - Solo Pop Up Exposition Hanne Arends, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2024 - Solo: Hanne’s Room Takeover, Melia Hotel, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2024 - Pepe Valenti & Hanne Arends, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2023 - Dutch Design Week, Isola, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
2022 - Solo: VULVASES, Singel 412, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2022 - Graduation Show, Dutch Design Week, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
2022 - House on Fire, Glazenhuis Amstelpark, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2021 - Solo: De Karel Serie, Kasteel Beverweerd, Werkhoven, The Netherlands
Selected Collections
Rosewood Hotel Ltd Art Collection
Belmond Ltd Art Collection
Public and private collections
