Maske 2018

Eckart Hahn created "Maske" at an unknown date using oil on canvas. You know, it's easy to imagine Hahn in his studio, lost in the act of painting, almost methodically layering thin glazes to achieve this unbelievable realism. The monkey's fur is so touchable! He builds depth and texture with incredible detail, hair by hair almost. And then there’s the mask, flat and cartoonish, contrasting with the monkey’s lifelike rendering, like two worlds colliding. Look at the way the monkey gazes at the mask, is it a confrontation? A contemplation? Hahn invites a playful, yet unsettling dialogue about identity, performance, and the masks we wear. I think of other artists like Lisa Yuskavage who play with similar tensions between realism and artifice. It's like we're all in this ongoing conversation, riffing off each other, trying to make sense of this messy, beautiful world through paint.