Lana Jean Israel, artist

Born in New York City, Lana Jean Israel was greatly influenced by her parents, who
were both artists. Throughout her early childhood (born 1945), her father was
studying with Hans Hofmann, one of the most important figures in the development
of Abstract Expressionism, in New York City and Provincetown, Massachusetts. Her
father was her influence and Hofmann was his. She was a young observer of
Hofmann and her fathers long metaphysical and philosophical conversations. Their
relationship exposed her to the vitality of Hofmanns teachings as she witnessed his
many, now renowned, instructional masterclasses. Beyond her fathers masterful
artistry (Clement Greenberg's Choice in Critic's Selected Show 1950 at Artist's
Gallery, 851 Lexington Ave, NY, NY), her father was an inspiration and example of
perseverance and belief in ones own work.
A precocious child, Lana
began drawing and painting
at an early age, and also
studied music and played the
violin. In 1951, when she was
six, her parents traveled to
Santa Fe with the aspiration of
starting an art/spiritual school.
After two years, they moved to
Phoenix,Arizona where Lana
absorbed the expansive
environment of the desert.
She eventually returned to
New York City in 1967. and
studied at the New York
Studio School with Peter
Untitled, 1979 Acrylic on Canvas, 20 1/2 x 24
Agostini, Elaine De Kooning,
George McNeil, Mercedes Matters and Esteban Vincente. She continued her studies
at The Arts Students League with Vaclav Vytlacil and maintained a close relationship
with Rosina A. Floria, the Executive Director of The Arts Students League.

lanajeanisrael@gmail.com | 212-879-4962

Lana Jean Israel, artist

Lana was also deeply influenced through the books and paintings of Mondrian,
Matisse, De Kooning, and most especially Kandinsky for his theories on Point, Line
and Plane. She creates her images in a world of tension, balance and movement.
Her paintings are units or "complexes" of color and form, composed with attention
to boundaries of the canvas and the equal yet unequal distribution of compositional
space, resulting in further dimension, and energy.
Lanas vibrancy and her fathers message of perseverance has been the seed for her
work. She has always triumphed over her limitations even as a physically challenged
artist with a rare disease, called Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease. In the early 2000s,
Lana was exposed to the world of iMac computers and purchased one of her own.
As she was no longer able to paint large scale because of the physicality required,
the computer and new technology became an imaginative world to continue her
process. This developed into a current body of work that spans 1000s of images
that she created over the last ten years on the computer. These images represent a
lineage beginning with Hofmanns teachings, leading to her fathers theoretical
explorations and discoveries, and continuing with her lifelong creative process.

Lana Jean Israel, New York, NY, c. 1973

lanajeanisrael@gmail.com | 212-879-4962

Alfred Israel (father) and Lana Jean Israel, Santa Fe, New Mexico, c.1950