Jack Hanley, an artist himself, opened his first eponymous gallery in Austin, Texas, in 1987. Presenting solos of artists such as Al Taylor and Peter Saul, as well as important group shows like “Five German Artists: Rosemarie Trockel, Thomas Ruff, Günther Förg, Thomas Huber, and Georg Herold,” set the tone for his unique, multi-decade, coast-spanning gallery career. Though Hanley closed his Austin location a few years later in 1990 in favor of San Francisco, his ethos never faltered. “I love showing artists that are optimistic and enthusiastic,” said Hanley. “They are excited to get their vision up in the space and get in the conversation.”

In San Francisco, Hanley presented influential shows of artists such as Christian Marclay, Zoe Leonard, and Thomas Locher, as well as seminal group exhibitions that featured now-iconic names like Sophie Calle, Sigmar Polke, and Stephen Prina. Other names that came across the Jack Hanley exhibition program include Félix González-Torres, Kiki Smith, Richard Prince, and Paul McCarthy.

Artist John Baldessari’s contribution to “17 Reasons” (2003) in San Francisco. Courtesy of Jack Townley Gallery, New York.

It was in San Francisco that Hanley undertook what he considers one of his most memorable art world moments, the unconventional “17 Reasons” show that he organized alongside Kate Fowle. Comprised of a series of temporary art-interventions around the Mission District in San Francisco, the exhibition featured artists from John Baldessari to Erwin Wurm.

Despite the many years of his early career in Austin and on the West Coast, Hanley maintained a connection to the New York art scene, and travelled there frequently. Only a few years after “17 Reasons” in 2008 he opened a space in the city, where he maintains his signature dynamic approach to exhibitions through today from the gallery’s current location in Tribeca. Regularly organizing projects, publishing artist books, and producing limited edition posters alongside presenting a comprehensive artistic program.

Installation view of “Alicia McCarthy” (2024). Photo: Brad Farwell. Courtesy of Jack Hanley Gallery.

Currently, Jack Hanley Gallery is staging the solo show “Alicia McCarthy,” whom Hanley has known and worked with for years. “Alicia is a wonderful person. In this show, she has moved away from working on found objects to really honing her weaves and layered abstractions,” said Hanley.

Comprised of a new body of work, McCarthy’s solo exhibition showcases her abstract visual language, which centers on tangled and intertwining knots and arcs, and flowing lines of color. Employing a range of media such as pencil, pastels, Flashe paint, latex, and spray paint, the works express a distinctive sense of energy and vibrancy, achieved not only through their technicolor palettes but their gesturalism and evidence of the artist’s hand via errant pencil marks or smears. At once meticulous and spontaneous, the works together speak to pervasive dichotomies and ideas around control and chaos.

Alicia McCarthy, Untitled (2024). Courtesy of Jack Hanley Gallery.

Following McCarthy’s show, opening October 11, the gallery will present “DRIFT TILT,” a solo exhibition of work by artist Marie Lorenz. While McCarthy’s show features paintings and works on paper, in Lorenz’s collage and kinetic sculpture made from debris will bring focus from the wall into space, speaking to Hanley’s borderless explorations of artists across genre and medium.

“Alicia McCarthy” is on view through October 5, 2024.