Mariage 2019

Eckart Hahn made this painting of an octopus and a coat rack, titled "Mariage". You can tell from the way it’s painted that Hahn is really into the process of making an image. I imagine him, brush in hand, maybe muttering to himself, trying to figure out how these two things can be brought together. The octopus is so beautifully rendered, with all its tentacles reaching out and wrapping around the coat rack, which looks like it's made from something very different – iron, maybe? I wonder what it must have been like to focus so intently on these small areas of color. Hahn's work reminds me of other artists, like Magritte, who put strange things together in ways that make you stop and think. Artists are always talking to each other, you know, across time and space. Ultimately, painting is a conversation, an exchange of ideas that’s embodied with color and form. It's a way of seeing and experiencing the world that leaves space for things to shift and emerge in ways you never expect.