At 32 Calvert Avenue E2, just off Shoreditch High Street, in his shop/treasure trove, the hyper energetic Hassan Hajjaj leaps for his telephone.  Time Out Dubai wants to interview him for his exhibition of paintings “Noss Noss” at the Third Line Gallery Dubai which begins this coming Wednesday, 21st November.  Noss Noss at The Third Line Gallery

No sooner than the interview terminates, the Gnawa drums of Hassan’s ring tone calls him again, and then again as we get in the van and head for a café.

Hassan is currently preparing for the Third Line show in Dubai, organising the decor for an area at the Tutankhamun show at the Millennium Dome (now the 02), sorting out the arrival of goods in his shop, organising two photo shoots for the Sheikh of Chic’s style magazine, Alef, and on and on and on.  In the whirlwind of his work, Hassan is the genial calm at the centre, a fond greeting, a warm handshake, a plan instantly acted upon; he is brimful of ideas, overflowing with energy, any normal human would be dead on their feet.

Moroccan born Hassan arrived in London as a teenager, and in London, New York, Paris and Marrakech has been by turn and concurrently, club night organiser, band manager, clothing designer with his label RAP, tea room owner, interior designer, photographer and artist, and recently he has added hotelier to the list– Riad Yima click to link to Riad Yima in Marrakech as featured by Elle Decor in the summer.

Multi talented Hassan is known for his innovative pop art, which elevates street culture to the chic of haute couture.  His signature style are his playful interior designs, re-configuring every day North African objects and placing them out of context as tables, chairs, canvases and wall hangings, these designs tease us, provoke and dare the stereo type.

Hassan’s work oozes that elusive X-factor which makes people want it.  His clothing range which accessorises his interior design can be seen modelled, if unintentionally, by staff at MOMOs: whether it’s a hoodie with a stylish print of a pair of Hassan’s slippers, the slippers themselves, see image below, or a T-shirt with ‘beware of the camel’ signs on it, these items are must-haves so you too can have a bit of that elusive, ironic, street edge.

At heart Hassan is primarily an artist/photographer.  His tribute to Manet, “Odalisque” sold for double the guide price at Sotheby’s Arab and Iranian Contemporary Art Auction on 24th October.  His cool images that peer at the viewer with an aggressive strut, intimate smiles, nonchalance or a naive unawareness, are fresh and enlivening.  Hassan often frames his images with items that interact with the image; Lion cigarette packs for men, Butterfly for women, packets of henna, soda cans, cans of chicken meat.

In the bustle of his schedule Hassan has even found time to create a new frame style for some of his paintings and designs.  This frame style echoes Arabian/North African door frames with intricate, layered carvings made from old tyres so that they have a style resembling Nokia’s indestructible bouncing phone, see image right.

Hassan began this summer with a widely admired installation, “Road from Marrakech to Penzance”, for the opening exhibition, “Social Systems” of Penzance’s re-juvenated 102 year old Newlyn Gallery and its newly created sister, the Exchange. The Exchange is an iconic re-construction of Penzance’s former telephone exchange and the single largest exhibition space in South West Britain.  Hassan at the Exchange .

“Road from Marrakech to Penzance” is in Hassan’s signature style, using road signs, paint cans, coca-cola crates from both the environs of Marrakech and Penzance, juxtaposing two café tableaux of tables and chairs, each made-up of material from its area.  His installation is a ‘chill out’ space in which people can sit, gossip, read relax, in direct participation with the art. It is similar to the style in which he designed Mourad Mazouz’s Parisian bar-restaurant Andy Wahloo and other projects; however, because the installation is in an art gallery the perceptions of the viewer/user is of the beauty and meaning rather than the beauty and utility. To see click Images from Road from Marrakech to Penzance then click on Hassan Hajjaj in the box

Hot out of Penzance, Hassan began preparation for Noss Noss, his exhibition of paintings at Dubai’s Third Line Gallery.  Noss Noss is the half coffee half milk favourite for meetings in Moroccan coffee houses. “It’s like my art, half Moroccan, half European”; it’s also typical of Hassan - he is his art, and humour is as much part of him as it is his art, most of Morocco’s business deals are negotiated concluded over glasses of Noss Noss in Cafés, art is a commodity and Hassan knows its value.

We are witnessing a meteor in action, hurry to catch a piece of the action at the Third Line, buy now or pay more later.

Click for Hassan’s website

The Third Line Gallery contact details: Al Quoz 3, Po Box 72036 Dubai, UAE  Tel: +9714 341 1367 Fax: +9714 341 1369
art@thethirdline.com  Third Line Website