December 06 - January 04, 2003
Drawings
JACOB EL HANANI – INK DRAWINGS AT GALLERY JOE
Philadelphia, PA – Gallery Joe is pleased to announce an exhibition of drawings by Jacob El Hanani. This is El Hanani’s second solo show with Gallery Joe. drawings opens in the Front Gallery on First Friday, December 6 and continues through January 4, 2003.
El Hanani’s drawings 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. All are ink on paper.
Over the last 30 years El Hanani has pursued his vision with tenacity and zeal unswayed by the ever-changing trends of the contemporary art world. Arthur C. Danto acknowledged this achievement when he included El Hanani’s drawings in his selection of the “Best of 2000” for Art Forum Magazine. Of El Hanani’s work Danto writes, “The drawings evoked peace and patience, as if time had no bearing on their world.”
El Hanani will show twelve recent works in drawings, varying in size from 4 ½ to 20 inches square. A wide range of work is represented from several series including; Signature, Crosshatch, Kav Parallel, Gauze, and the new series Letter falls. Some of the drawings are extremely dense while others are almost ethereal.
El Hanani was born in 1947 and spent his early childhood in Casablanca. In the early 50’s El 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. Since 1974 El Hanani has lived and worked in New York City.
This month is a busy one for El Hanani, opening in mid December in the 47th Corcoran Biennial in Washington, DC. Recent exhibitions include a solo show this fall at Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery in New York as well a numerous groups shows in NY and Boston. Mr. El 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. Gallery Joe first showed El Hanani’s drawings in Drawing Rules, a group show in March, 1999.
drawings opens First, Friday, December 6, and runs through January 4, 2003. The artist will be present at an opening reception on Friday, December 6, 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, mail@galleryjoe.com or www.galleryjoe.com