Biography
Guy Yanai (b. 1977 in Haifa, Israel) lives and works between Tel Aviv, Israel and Marseille, France.
Guy Yanai's paintings are characterized by bold colors, simplified shapes, and a flattened depth of field. In his work, the banal is reduced to geometric segments in a stripping away of references to the tangible world in favor of a visual experience that is more akin to digital imagery drawing landscapes images from his wanderings around the globe, or French filmography scenes which he reminiscence through, for example. He often chooses everyday objects and spaces as his subjects, flattening and abstracting them in a way that seems removed and objective. Yanai has cited numerous sources of inspiration from old, modern, and contemporary masters to digital imagery, television, and advertisements and his simplified representations may serve as a way to condense and organize the multitude of data we receive in reference to any person, place, or thing into concise representations with tight compositions. The more time spent with Yanai’s painting, the more it encourages an investigation into the perceptive space of the canvas, a place where objects, scenery, and nature are conjured, sustained, and gently teased away.
Guy Yanai's recent selected solo exhibitions took place at KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin (2022); Miles McEnery Gallery, New York (2021); Praz-Delavallade, Los Angeles (2021); Galerie Conrads, Dusseldorf (2020); Niels Kantor Gallery, Beverly Hills (2020); and Haifa Museum of Art, Haifa (2015). His work has been included in exhibitions in numerous institutions such as Harper’s Galley, Los Angeles (2023); Nassima/Landau Foundation, Tel Aviv (2020); The Velan Center for Contemporary Art, Turin (2013); and The Ashdod Museum of Art, Ashdod (2008). Recent group exhibitions were exhibited at Alexander Berggruen, New York (2022); Praz Delavallade, Paris (2021); Asia Art Center, Shanghai (2021); Maho Kubota Gallery, Tokyo (2021); Nino Mier Gallery, Los Angeles (2020); Yvon Lambert Collection, Avignon (2023); Kunsthal Rotterdam (2022); among others. Yanai’s work is included in numerous public and private collections throughout the USA, Europe, and Asia, such as Haifa Museum of Art, Haifa, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Xiao Museum, Rhizao, Rema Hort Mann Foundation, New York, Jose Mugrabi Collection, Israel Discount Bank, M Art Center, Shanghai, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Drake Collection, Wassenaar and Anita Zabludowicz Collection, London, among others. The latest solo shows were in South Korea with Art Intelligence Global and Harper’s Los Angeles.
