Bella Howard (Based in the UK) 1, If your photos had to be translated into something non-visual ie. sound, temperature, or movement....what would it become?   music for sure! nothing i love more than dancing in a field with all my pals 2, Do you have a favorite camera and was one used specifically for your work presented at your recent show playground? I always prefer shooting on film so usually my contax g2 was used for most of my playground shots over the years,I love that it’s a bit unpredictable and it’s a relationship with me and the camera plus the subject… an odd little thruple making magic 3, Hopla knows you have a son. Do you see a dream scenario for him as far as where he lives and what he may do for a living once he approaches life as a young adult (like: veterinarian in Hanoi, or what?) well i’m about to take him to his first tennis coaching session this afternoon, he seems to have greta hand/eye co ordination, i’m hoping in the age of AI he will be a pro tennis player and travel the world doing what he loves (will keep you updated on how it goes) plus i can tag along (sorry Iggy) 4, What’s your funniest story, shooting someone famous? I shot Brian Eno, who for some reason was the only person i felt nervous and shy around, he could obviously sense my nerves and put on “the birds song” which really caught me off guard, we had a laugh and got on with the shoot. He is so talented i think i felt like i was in the room with true genius. 5, Your work suggests that you have a great interest for the US, what is your guess on what that country will look like in 10 years and do you think it will remain interesting to capture in images the way you have done so far? ooh well it changed so much pre pandemic and after especially LA, which seemed duller and more sparse that ever where as nyc was always hustling away and felt more vibes than ever… maybe they will continue on those tangents. I pray the rest of american places I love don’t turn more extreme.  most of my good friends are american i love the honesty and americana nostalgia vibes are so beautiful and tragic I feel like im in a Lana del rey song on road trips (pre her even existing)

This auction will end soon. Herrlander is a candy salesman at daytrade; in fact he is in Las Vegas right now, slinging candy.  Even if the book I am writing will be better than the one he is writing, I can't help but admire his tenacity. The type of artists that both of us are often seems to fall between two chairs.  The art world is built on economics and control and truly very few 42 year-olds who loves but don't belong make such an effort to carve out a space for themseles but that is the path of HOPLA.  - B.A.

March 18th Live auction lots at Stockholms Auktionsverk, ends this Wednesday May 20th 2026, 11:42 Stockholm time, (05:42 EDT) The artworks are from HOPLA Gallery’s NYC February exhibition Raymour vs. Flanigan Herrlander’s contribution, Family is a love letter in form of a photo series to his wife Betty Barnes, a playful journey through events that have made Herrlander’s life his. At the peak of COVID-19 Pandemic Herrlander obtained his American citizenship and left a stressful-sickness-infested lower Manhattan and traveled with Betty to Hancock, NY, where they started to fornicate with the goal of conceiving, they played, nature-bathed, read, wrote and did arts and crafts. Without comparison these are the happiest days of Herrlander’s life and no short period of time either before or after has been so packed with discovery, meaning and enjoyment. Herrlander wishes for this artistic contribution to also be a note of gratitude to his wife, a salute to the female experience and sacrifice that is required for any woman that becomes a mother, what they give up in time, career and bodily impact is something that should continue to be acknowledged and celebrated. - HOPLA Gallery

Two photographic works from HOPLA Gallery’s February exhibition in New York are currently entering auction through Stockholms Auktionsverk. Stockholm / New York

We all feel melancholic at times.  Especially those of us who entered the Middle Ages might miss the feeling of young impulsive love—letting a moment take you wherever, enjoying it, and just rolling with it—the romantic and sexy relationship we may have had with our destructiveness in pursuit of freedom. The interest in discovery and the search for identity, the allowance for irresponsibility, and the true belief that the best is still ahead of you.  HOPLA believes this may be true for both our members and our organization: the best is still ahead of us.  We wish to announce that Amjad and Herrlander are each in the process of writing their own first novels. Just like Raymour vs. Flanigan, one has to be better than the other. Herrlander feels sure his book will be the best, so does Amjad. Amjad may be right, but the same goes for Herrlander.  See you on HOPLA’s 2027 book tour. Shout out to Bradley Cooper, who made a self-help film with Lady Gaga and managed to stop drinking. He even got Brad Pitt to stop—can you imagine?  Stay curious friends.

Malcolm Af Donner (Based in Helsinki, FI) Imagine one of your paintings gains consciousness overnight, what’s the first thing it accuses you of? - Probably of being dastardly good looking! But on a more serious note maybe of being a bit anxious, instead of just letting loose! If you were stranded on a desert island with a famous artist, dead or alive, who do you wish it were and why? - Maybe Robert Smithson because he would be very good at arranging rocks so they would spell out SOS. If someone who knows you very well looked at your work, what would they recognize immediately that a stranger wouldn’t? - This one is a bit difficult to answer. One thing would maybe be my interest for archaeology and history although that is quite in the open. Something else I have heard people that I know talking about is all the little things going on in the paintings, all the different details and that there might be some hidden meaning there… Does your drive stem from a place, like trauma or anger or is it a more joyous place? - Don’t know really, I think it might be from stubbornness maybe, and also a kind of curiosity about all kinds of things. And art can be a great vessel for exploration where you set up your own limits. I’m also curious about the simple fact of what something is going to look like when you are in the process of painting. Today you have a lot of aids in terms of photography and different digital tools but you still have this element of chance in painting that can be quite exciting, and maybe especially so in painting with watercolours. You are currently in the phase of painting with watercolors and bananas keep on appearing in many of your recent works, what can you share about that? - Well that’s for me to know and you to find out! (DM if you are interested in being featured in HOPLA Artist Appreciation Infinitive)

I left a candy fair in Anaheim and spoke in length about Mexico with my taxi driver that was from there on our way to LAX, it made me miss it. From the airplane window I saw Los Angeles from above, the beach, all the houses and the sea. Later the sun was setting on the red rocks of Arizona, I pledged there and then to visit it on the ground one day. I watched Pretty Women and Julia Roberts looked just like my wife Betty when we first met. To be alive is a miracle and I feel thankful.

Without YOU, HOPLA is nothing but an empty shell of love and incredible ideas, many thanks for joining us on Feb. 6th for Raymore vs. Flanigan The show brought together handmade rugs and large-scale photographs as if they were artifacts from a recently vanished civilization. A speculative anthropological study, thinking and negotiating in cycles, not events. HOPLA was born when two friends tore down their defenses and chose vulnerability, what we call sharing your black diamond. We’ve stayed true to that in everything. The art, the message, the product. By trade, we’re salesmen. That’s real. And part of the work has been pushing against the traditional art world, bypassing gatekeepers, galleries, and inherited pathways to make something honest and lived. As men of God, we try to move with gratitude and love. We don’t shy away from anger. It comes from the same place. To care is the first step and beginning of everything. Thank you to Nikhil Shah for your contribution. If you want to build with HOPLA, come find us. The door is open. For artwork inquiries, DM us. There are still a few strong pieces left. There’s more coming. Always. And you’re already invited. — HOPLA