The search 1996

Hanno Karlhuber made this painting, The Search, a 100 x 70 cm piece, with paint. I'm taken by how the colours are handled, a muted palette, almost monochrome, which creates a feeling of melancholy and quiet. Look closely at the texture of the paint. It's so smooth, almost like a photograph but it's all brushstrokes. There's a stillness in the air, like the world is holding its breath. The head lights of the car light up the road, and the two trees next to the car, the rest is night. There’s something about the use of light here, the way it's both revealing and concealing, that reminds me of Edward Hopper, though Karlhuber is doing his own thing entirely. Ultimately, this work speaks to art's capacity to capture the elusive, to frame not just what we see, but how we feel.