2013 Catalogue Archive

Israeli artist Jacob El Hanani makes beautiful and intricate works that employ the tradition of micrography in Judaism, a technique utilized in decoration and transcribing holy text. In Guaze, El Hanini also makes a reference to the translucent fabric traditionally woven in Palestine. The word gauze is said to derive from the place name of Gaza, a center of weaving in the region. The painstaking repetition of miniscule marks embodies an extraordinary detail that speaks to the passage of time and the link between the microscopic and the intangible. Jacob El Hanini’s work has been collected by Guggenheim Museum, New York; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Brooklyn Museum; The Jewish Museum, New York; The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Tel Aviv Museum of Art; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.