Mind Rotation 2018

Eckart Hahn made this painting called Mind Rotation without a date, but it looks to me like an oil on canvas. What really grabs me about this piece is the contrast between the flat, almost cartoonish yellow background and the hyper-realistic depiction of the gorilla. It's like two different worlds colliding on one canvas. Then you notice the rope is draped so carelessly over the gorilla. Is it binding the animal, or is it a playful accessory? Look closely at how Hahn renders the fur, each strand a tiny brushstroke, building up a rich, velvety texture. You can almost feel the softness of the creature, but its eyes, shadowed and still, also communicate a weight or a sadness. The gorilla's gaze is so knowing, so present. It reminds me a little of Philip Guston, who also brought a sense of cartoonish unease into his representational paintings. Ultimately, it's that tension between realism and abstraction, humour and darkness, that makes this painting so compelling.