Adad Hannah – The Diversions

Curated by the Judith & Norman ALIX Art Gallery
October 5, 2012 - January 1, 2013
When the 'Adad Project' (as it came to be called) was conceived, there was no expectation that a body of work would be produced as one of the inaugural exhibitions for the opening of the new gallery. Rather, the intent was simple: to keep the community engaged and excited by contemporary artistic processes during the construction of our new gallery and to provide a practising artist with the space to investigate and explore new work without the pressure of producing an exhibition-ready piece.

Adad Hannah's work investigates many of the complex questions being addressed by contemporary artists today: our relationship to history—cultural, personal, and social; the place of the institution in society—whether museum or gallery, school or prison; and the function of the contemporary voice and body as an agent in our experience of art—past and present.

Hannah's installation integrates, and in many ways resolves a number of the threads that Hannah has been exploring in his work over the past ten years of artistic production: the aesthetics of temporal displacement; the re-activation of histories (art and personal); and a subtle (but persistent) critique of social institutions. This is a major installation which includes two full sets that fold into themselves, four large backdrops, props, and eight monitors playing a total of thirty one videos.

The first major publication based on Adad Hannah's works is now available for sale at the gallery.

For retail and library orders please contact ABC Art Books Canada Distribution  www.abcartbookscanada.com
About the Artist
Adad Hannah was born in New York in 1971, spent his childhood in Israel and England, and moved to Vancouver in the early 1980’s. He received a BFA from Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, Vancouver in 1998 and an MFA from Concordia University, Montreal in 2004. He lives and works between Montreal and Vancouver. 

Hannah has exhibited in, produced work at, and been collected by major institutions around the world, including the National Gallery of Canada, Musée d’art contemporain de Montreal, Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Vancouver Art Gallery, Museo Nacional del Prado, Museo Rufino Tamayo, Aldrich Museum, Ikon Gallery, Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, San Antonio Museum of Art, Art Gallery of Ontario, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, and many others. His work has been presented at major biennials and festivals worldwide.
His work has won major awards and has been generously supported over the years by the Canada Council for the Arts, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, British Columbia Arts Council, and several other granting bodies in Canada and abroad.

Visit www.adadhannah.com for more information