Peter Hahne
Stockholm, 17.11–18.12 2011
Peter Hahne, with his abstract paintings, has been a heavyweight within Swedish painting since the 80’s. With his latest creations, Hahne continues to refine his painting. The changes consist of subtle shifts in nuance, where earlier expressions have been loosened up for new revisions. Peter Hahne’s painterly improvisations are built upon a lifelong relationship with color and form.
Hahne is, and has always been, faithful to his expression. Characteristic is his visual language, where half-monochromatic playfulness meets calligraphic tones. Here rythmic motions meet a meditative peace, and even if one experiences the surface as controlled, it holds an inherent peace and it is difficult to evade the deep resonance of the colors. During Peter Hahne’s time at the Konstakademien in Copenhagen, in the years around 1980, there was a clear break between tradition and new postmodernist tendencies. This friction left an impression on the artist, who found a growing freedom in the contemporary once he returned to Sweden.
The nuanced alterations which Hahnes expression undergoes occur in cyclical processes, and there are references and expressions which figure repeatedly in his painting. One such expression is the latin term fiat, which in English means be it so. In the biblical story the word stands for the basis of creative force. Thus, for Hahne the term fiat is transferable to art, and on several of the canvases we can see the word written across the entire work. Hence, one can say that the experience of Hahne’s visual language becomes filtered through the grid created by the letters.
Hahne describes his own most memorable art experiences as being spontaneous and emotional, perhaps similar to the human experience of the divine. Art can trigger personal impact, leave lifelong impressions, and resist to be captured in words. Hahne paints from this spontaneity, with a visceral relationship to color. The paintings are what they are, and do not rely upon words or explanations to justify their existence. ”I want to create paintings which are only paintings; they need no translation. Words and interpretations may come later.”
Peter Hahne was born 1955 in Arboga. Today he lives and works in Malmö. During his student years, 1975-1983, Hahne studied at Konstfack and Konsthögskolan in Stockholm, as well as Konstakademien in Copenhagen. He developed under the guidance of Sven Daalsgard, Richard Mortensen, Olle Kåks and Paul Osipow, among others. Hahne is represented in the collections of Moderna Museet, Nationalmuseum, Malmö Konstmuseum and Dunkers Kulturhus. The collaboration with Galleri Andersson/ Sandström was initiated in 1996.