November 03 - December 23, 2000
Mark Drawings
JACOB EL HANANI – MARK DRAWINGS AT GALLERY JOE
Philadelphia, PA – Gallery Joe wishes to announce an exhibition of drawings by Jacob El Hanani. Drawings opens on Friday, November 3. Gallery Joe will show Drawings in the vault gallery along with Recent Drawings by Emily Brown in the front gallery. Both shows continue through December 23, 2000.
Hanani is a tireless and meticulous mark maker. His works, known internationally, are composed of thousands of tiny lines or letters, which from a few feet away read as soft gray rectangles. Each drawing follows a preconceived plan, perhaps strikes of a certain number or length, Hebrew letters, or the artist’s signature repeated almost endlessly. There are nine drawings in the show including several brand new works. All are ink on paper varying in size from 4 ½ to 18 inches square.
Hanani was born in 1947 and spent his early childhood in Casablanca. He believes an important element in his art, his basic concept of time, was formed during that period of his life. “In Morocco we were accustomed to spending a tremendous amount of time on every aspect of life. From my grandmother’s baking and embroidery to the way the Sephardim pray, nothing is fast.” His drawings take months to execute and are so demanding that he works for only 10 or 12 minutes at a time before taking a break. “I want to draw time,” Hanani says, “I want to make you feel the time it took, see the time in it.”
In the early 50’s Hanani’s family immigrated to Israel where he grew up. He is a graduate of the Avni School of Fine Art in Tel Aviv. Following school he lived in Paris for a number of years attending the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Hanani currently works in New York City where he has lived since 1974.
Gallery Joe first showed Mr. Hanani’s drawings in Drawing Rules, a group show in March, 1999.
Hanani has exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally. His most resent solo show was last May at Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery in New York. Mr. Hanani’s drawings are represented in over 20 museums including: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Museum of Modern Art, The Jewish Museum, and The Brooklyn Museum in New York, Musee national d’Arte Moderne, Centre George Pompidou, Paris, The Menil Collection, Houston, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Smithsonian Institution and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
Drawings opens First, Friday, November 3, and runs through December 23, 2000. The artist will be present at an opening reception on Friday, November 3, from 6:30- 8:30 P.M. Regular gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday 12 - 5:30, other days by appointment. For additional information contact Becky Kerlin, 215.592.7752, FAX 215.238.6923 or email mail@galleryjoe.com