Project Description
Functional objects, crafted locally and spanning from the prehistoric era to today, are presented in the hands of community members. Sourced from nearby museums and cultural institutions, each object tells a story of the neighborhood’s deep history and evolving identity. Though only hands and arms are shown, the images speak volumes—subtly reflecting the cultural richness and generational diversity of the area. Each pairing of hand and object blends a photo-realistic pencil drawing with a photograph, creating layered portraits of connection, craftsmanship, and connections across time.
As part of his design development process, Haendel identified a diversity of people, all ages and cultural backgrounds, who live or work in the neighborhood to accompany him to museums and cultural institutions in the Wilshire/Fairfax area. Haendel invited the participants to engage with select objects in the various collections in creative ways and he photographed them holding and interacting with these objects, all of which have a connection to the LA region.
Complete list of objects pictured in Hands and Things.
Artist Statement
“As an artist, my goal is to challenge viewers to move slowly and with greater awareness through the world of images and signs in order to reveal how these images make meaning and shape our experience.”
About the Artist
KARL HAENDEL (b. 1976, New York) makes drawings, installations, films and public projects. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles, and studied at the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. His drawings have been exhibited through galleries, museums and biennials nationally and internationally including the Biennial of the Americas, the Biennale de Lyon, the California Biennial, Prospect and the Whitney Biennial, along with solo exhibitions at the Lever House, New York; Locust Projects, Miami; the Museo de Arte de El Salvador; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art; the Frederick Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University; and the Wexner Center for the Arts, among others. Haendel’s work is in the collections of the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, the Fogg Art Museum, the Guggenheim Museum, the Hammer Museum, the Kunsthalle Bielefeld, the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Whitney Museum of American Art. He is the recipient of grants from the California Community Foundation and the Pollock Krasner Foundation.