Bomb 2018

Eckart Hahn made this intriguing, surreal painting called Bomb, and just look at the surface of that big black sphere. The surface is so smooth, yet, when you get up close, you can see that it is marked and scratched, with a strange texture. What kind of conversations was Hahn having with his materials? What if Hahn was trying to make something menacing, but also something delicate? The texture on the bomb is everything - I wonder if he was thinking about the skin of a dangerous animal, like a rhino? Then, Hahn painted a small, delicate bird, perched delicately on top, about to peck at the fuse. The bird seems so fragile compared to the potential devastation of that bomb. There is a sense of vulnerability but also strength, because maybe the bird is about to disarm the bomb. In the end, artists are always responding to other artists, it is an ongoing exchange of ideas through time. Maybe Hahn made this work as a sign of hope, a visual riddle about facing life's challenges, big or small.