Standby "series" (Selected), 2008
mixed media: pigment, inks, tar & henna on canvas

“Standby” is a term that may cross the minds of a few people quickly, or if worse comes to the worst, for the unluckiest, “Standby” may represent just a few hours of “transit” or “an outstanding situation” in some airport or another; actually, in my personal situation, “Standby” goes beyond the simple geographical or linguistic criteria to refer explicitly to the whole Palestinian people who have been placed under such a situation for nearly sixty years now, i.e. since 1948, with a focus on figures because a large number of people mean to associate that with the creation of the State of “Israel”!!!

Hani Zurob, May, 2008

"Ainsi de Standby 60. Juxtaposées les unes à côté des autres, six toiles présentent la silhouette d’un homme assis, à genoux, recroquevillé ou tête baissée, sur fond de grands coups de pinceau et d’empâtements de matière brune, noire ou pourpre. Mieux qu’une simple représentation, qui réduit le réel au pensable en même temps qu’elle le désigne, la violence des traces de couleur, conjuguée à la prostration du personnage, donne à sentir l’impensable, à savoir le désespoir et la colère".

Sarah Ilher-Meyer, Publié dans Zéro2, 2009

"Les artistes dévoilent une histoire inachevée, figurée par les tableaux d'Hani Zurob et ses hommes assis, peints au goudron mêlé de henné, qui semblent retarder la mort".

Romain Blondeau, Le Monde, 04 August 2009

" The young artist from Gaza Hani Zurob contributes a lot of the pent-up energy one feels among young Palestinians with his seven fairly large ‘Standby’ paintings. They vaguely portray male figures who seem to be stuck in their motions, ‘in standby’, waiting for someone to free them from the canvas, and filling it with their dark thoughts and frustrated gestures in the meanwhile. The seven paintings have different hues and the manner in which they have been hung side by side works very well."

Robert Kluijver, July 2009