Campfire 2020

Eckhart Hahn made this curious painting of a rooster and a length of yellow rope, called "Campfire," with I'm guessing oil paint. There's something about the texture that gets me: those feathers, so dark they're almost velvety, set against the smooth starkness of the background. It's like Hahn is inviting us to reach out and touch, even though we know we can't. Look closely at the rooster’s comb. See how the red deepens to orange at the tips? And then, the rope! Such precise realism, but why is it there? It makes me think of Magritte and his ability to show us the world anew. Both explore the bizarre nature of reality, and our constant need to impose some kind of order upon it. Hahn isn't trying to give us answers, he's poking at our assumptions, challenging us to look closer.