Seiltanz 2017

Eckart Hahn made this strange painting, Seiltanz, which translates as 'rope dance', maybe sometime recently, with oil paints. I can imagine him in the studio, moving between the canvas and his subject matter. There’s this gorilla swinging on a huge rope, and you wonder, what’s going on in his mind? The background is this muted yellow, kind of dreamlike. Then you notice the cloth underneath, with the weird tear, and this small red ball. Is this his world, his playground, his existential stage? The brushwork is incredibly detailed, but it's more than just realism. It's like Hahn is thinking about how the material world can also become imbued with meaning and feeling. I feel like Hahn is looking back to painters like Magritte and Balthus. What is the relationship between the artist and the world they create? Artists are always building on each other, playing with ideas across time, inspiring each other to see things in new ways. Each brushstroke can communicate intention, emotion and meaning, even if you don't know what the final result will be. It’s a kind of dance.