ECKART HAHN: Mythos Incorporated

When you see a frog, do you think of fertility, a potential prince, or a Budweiser commercial?

It can be said that the daily bombardment of images has watered down the iconographic, symbolic, or narrative significance of important paintings in art history. Is rampant marketing tainting our visual experiences?

In ‘Mythos Incorporated’, Eckart Hahn puts classical symbolism and mythic force to the test. He paints over the subjects with current day objects such as plastic bags, or masks them in ‘marketing colors’, such as the sickly McDonald’s yellow that I connect with cheeseburgers, childhood and constipation.

In my view, some paintings passed the test, as the poses of the painting’s characters told me enough of the story. In ‘Scarecrow’, there’s no mistaking that pose for anything but a crucifixion, chickens or no chickens.

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Additional Information

Galerie Wagner + Partner
Karl-Marx Allee 87
Click here for map
Exhibition runs until May 28, 2011

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