Born and raised in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Kay Hofmann grew up observing her father’s own sculpting practice as a stonecutter who specialized in tombstones and monuments, an early influence that would serve as a foundation to her own relationship to stone in her artistic career. She attended the Art Institute of Chicago in the early 50s, where she began as a painter, but later found her way back to sculpture and stonework. Hofmann graduated in 1955 and received a prestigious fellowship in Paris. Spiraling in and out of figuration, her work from the 1950s to the present day demonstrates Hofmann’s exploration with the delicate balance between figuration and abstraction.

CURRICULUM VITAE
Born 1932, Green Bay, WI
Lives and works in Rockford, IL

EDUCATION
1956
Académie de la Grande Chaumière, Paris, FR

1955
BFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL

SOLO AND TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2023
Oriana, Mae Lombardi,Glencoe, IL
Being and Becoming, PATRON, Chicago, IL

2020
Senses, François Ghebaly, Los Angeles, CA

2019
pour toujours, PATRON, Chicago, IL

2017
Forever Young, 4th Ward Project Space, Chicago, IL

1980-2015
Rahr-West Museum, Manitowoc, WI
Bellarmine College, Louisville, KY
The Art Center, Highland Park, IL
Alverno College, Milwaukee, WI
Barat College, Lake Forest, IL
Peoria Art Guild, Peoria, IL
Chicago Public Library, Chicago, IL
St. Xavier University, Chicago, IL
Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL
Exhibit “A”, Chicago, IL
Covenant Club, Chicago, IL
Peter Miller Gallery, Chicago, IL
Mindscape Gallery, Chicago, IL

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022
Linen, Silk, and Pearls…, LVL3, Chicago, IL

2020
Materia Medica, curated by Kelly Akashi, François Ghebaly, Los Angeles, CA

Other:
New Horizons in Sculpture [six times]
Chicago & Vicinity Annual Show, Art Institute of Chicago [four times]
Eye on Chicago
Creative Chicago Sculpture Exhibition, Marina City
1st Invitational Chicago Sculpture Exhibition, Federal Building
New Horizons in Art
Union League Club Annual Sculpture Exhibit, Chicago
Lakeview Museum, Peoria, IL
Purdue University National Exhibit Max 18-24
Institute of Design Phalanz Four Exhibition, Chicago
Momentum
Ravinia Arts Festival, Highland Park
Lincoln College Exhibition
Burpee Art Gallery Exhibition, Rockford, IL
30th Illinois Invitational, Illinois State Museum
North American Sculpture Exhibition, Foothills Art Center, Colorado
40th Annual Salon Show, Northern Indiana Arts Association

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2024
Paul Laster, “8 Must-See Artworks at the Aspen Art Fair”, Galerie Magazine, July

2023
Kerry Cardoza, “An artistic life”, Chicago Reader, May
Alia Akkam, Mel Studach, and Hannah Martin, “Waterworks Expands Best-Selling Collection, Peter Pennoyer Architects Launches New Division, and More News”, Architectural Digest, April

2022
Anthony Breznican, “Windfall: The Shocking, Unsettling Ending Explaines”, Vanity Fair, March

2020
Paul Laster, “3 Los Angeles Exhibitions Exploring the Nature of Things”, Art and Object, August

2019
O. Kristina Pedersen, “Kay Hofmann: The Stone Cutter”, Glamour Girl Magazine, Issue Six
Claire Voon, “At 86, Sculptor Kay Hofmann is Making Waves in Chicago”, Art News, March
Robin Dluzen, “Kay Hofmann, ‘pour toujours’”, Visual Art Source, March
Chris Miller, “Figuration Forever, A Review of Kay Hofmann at Patron Gallery”, New City, March

2017
Kelly Kaczynski, “Kay Hofmann ‘Forever Young’ at 4th Ward Project Space”, Chicago Artist Writers, November

1997
Dona Z. Meilach, “Contemporary Stone Sculpture”

1995
Arthur Williams, “Sculpture: Technique, Form, Content”

1989
Les Krantz, “The Chicago Art Review”
The World Who’s Who of Women
Who’s Who in American Art
Foremost Women of Twentieth Century
International Who’s Who of Professional & Business Women
Dictionary of International Biography

AWARDS & PRIZES
Art Institute of Chicago Ryerson Fellowship
All-Chicago Competition, First Price Sculpture
National Society of Arts & Letters, National Award, First Prize
4th Annual Exhibition, Lafayette Art Center, Indiana Award
Spectrum Exhibition, McCormack Place Award
New Horizons in Sculpture, Prize
Artist Guild of Chicago Annual Fine Arts Exhibit, Best of Show
29th Annual “Open Spectrum” Competition, Libertyville, Best of Show
“Michigan Exhibit” Bergsma Gallery, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Award
Arthur Baer Competition, Best of Show
Old Orchard Art Festival, Best of Show

SELECTED PRIVATE & PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Michael Jordan Collection
Borg-Warner Corporation
Hugh Hefner Collection
Continental Plaza Hotel
Gonstead Medical Center, Mt. Horeb, WI
263 East Delaware Building, Chicago, IL
Arthur Anderson Associates
Henry Marcus Collection