Black Swan 2015

Eckart Hahn made ‘Black Swan’ sometime after 1971, and it's like a stage set or a puzzle. The big black shape dominates, and the bright red boots at the bottom – you just know they’re shiny! And the hand, the swan, the wood grain? Each feels both real and symbolic. I wonder what Hahn was thinking, placing these objects in such a deliberate way. It reminds me of Magritte, or maybe even Philip Guston, how the painting uses simple shapes to create a complex and ambiguous scene. There is something dream-like about the combination of images. The black shape could be a void or an abstract form. The woodgrain makes me think of carpentry – I can almost smell the sawdust. It's like Hahn is in conversation with all these painters, and it makes me want to grab a brush and join in! Painting at its best offers us this open-ended invitation to create, think, and feel.