New video installation by Hassan Hajjaj makes Midwest debut in February

“Moroccan artist Hassan Hajjaj fuses a fascinating mix of fashion, art, and pop culture in his striking work.”—Harper’s Bazaar

Columbus, OH—January 22, 2015—Hassan Hajjaj: My Rock Stars Experimental, Volume 1, a stunning three-channel video installation by the Moroccan-born Hajjaj that features musicians wearing ensembles designed by the artist and performing in front of colorful, heavily patterned textiles, will be on view at the Wexner Center February 7–April 12, 2015. Hajjaj blends photography, performance, and fashion in colorful portraits that invite visitors into his realm, rife with startling visual and cultural juxtapositions.

Notes Wexner Center Curator at Large Bill Horrigan, “Hassan is an extraordinary portraitist whose work has an intense energy and urgency that captures the vigor and vibrancy of his subjects. His work, especially in My Rock Stars Experimental, offers a compelling look at a diverse group of performers from around the world and in so doing offers the viewer a truly dazzling look at transcultural exchange, global capitalism and the issues surrounding them.”

The nine performances documented in the exhibition are by an international array of musicians: the London-based Moroccan musician Simo Lagnawi; percussionist and singer Helen Parker-Jayne Isibor of The Venus Bushfires, and Muneera Rashida and Sukina Abdul Noor of Muslim hip-hop duo Poetic Pilgrimage, among others. Each performer plays in turn, creating a dynamic theater in the round. The performers—Hajjaj’s personal “rock stars”—are bedecked in outfits designed by the artist that mix traditional Moroccan fabrics and luxury brand clothing and shoes. This interweaving of traditional and contemporary elements creates a powerful dialogue between past and present, high fashion and vernacular style, and Moroccan craftsmanship and contemporary art. The installation brings to life the approach Hajjaj has explored in such celebrated photographic series as Kesh Angels.

The exhibition is organized by the Wexner Center for the Arts with help from Taymour Grahne Gallery, New York.

ABOUT HASSAN HAJJAJ
Hajjaj was born in 1961 in Larache, Morocco, but has called London home since 1975. Influenced by London’s club, hip-hop, and reggae music scenes, as well as by his North African heritage, Hajjaj is entirely self-taught in his diverse practice, which includes portraiture, installation, performance, fashion, and interior design. Hajjaj was the winner of the 2011 Sovereign Middle East and Africa Prize, and was shortlisted for Victoria & Albert Museum’s Jameel Prize for Islamic Art in 2009.  His work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions and is held in the collections of such institutions as the Los Angeles County Museum of Contemporary Art; the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Institut des Cultures d’Islam, Paris; and Kamel Lazaar Foundation, Tunisia. The artist currently lives and works in London and Marrakesh, Morroco.

EXHIBITION-RELATED EVENTS

A free exhibition preview will be held on Friday, February 6, 6–9 pm. Guests are encouraged to RSVP at http://www.wexarts.org/rsvp or by emailing rsvp@wexarts.org. On Sunday, March 1, noon–5 pm, Super Sunday: FiberFull will feature free gallery tours and interactive experiences for all ages. Walk-in tours, free with gallery admission, are scheduled for 4 pm Thursday, February 19, and Thursday, February 26.