Jacob El Hanani (1947, Morocco) grew up in Israel but is based in New York. His work focuses on the practice of Judaic micrography, an ancestral technique used in the decoration and transcription of sacred texts.

 

Through the detailed repetition of tiny calligraphic gestures, El Hanani creates complex works that look like patterns from a distance, but looking closely, one discovers a deep world that transcends to the infinite. The micrography of El Hanani creates abstract designs of great elegance that honor a certain level of craftsmanship and of manual labor, due to his calligraphy technique carried out in ink on paper. As the artist states, "One of the greatest pleasures for me is to face the blank paper."

 

El Hanani is an artist who cares about the aesthetic dimension of his work. He formulates the abstract designs and patterns within classical ideals and a balanced and harmonious composition, as he has a deep concern for beauty.

 

His works are part of the world's most important permanent collections such as Centre George Pompidou in Paris, the British Museum in London, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, MoMa, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

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Crosshatched Landscape, 1998
Ink on paper

15-1/2 x 22 inches