Exhibitions

Heidi Hahn (b. 1982) creates paintings that serve as an homage to women and their inner lives. In her work, the female body takes center stage. Her seductive application of paint, with the abundance of layering, acts to intensify the narrative of each work. What may feel like deeply psychological portraits of femininity are often skewed by their formal constraints, that asks, what is the substance that makes up the whole?

“In these works, the woman becomes a tool of visual seduction, the formal aspect of the paint delaying ownership over the content. Almost just a residue of it’s true purpose. I wanted to paint about sensitivity, of being apart from something, perhaps an accepted understanding of the world. I don’t know what exactly these women want to hide themselves away from, but I feel that it is necessary in order to really be seen, be themselves. Defined by the artifice of paint, they are untouchable, camouflaged by beauty and anonymous in profile. The works on paper also offer a respite from definition, the seriality leading anonymity. All is quiet and in repose. The paint being able stand in for vulnerability.” —Heidi Hahn

Heidi Hahn received her M.F.A. from Yale University in 2014, and is currently an acting Professor of Painting and Drawing at Alfred University, NY. She has been the recipient of several awards, residencies, and fellowships, including the Jerome Foundation Grant, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture Residency, Madison, ME; and the Fine Arts Work Center Residency, Provincetown, MA, among others. Her work has been collected by the Kadist Foundation, Paris, France; and has been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout the world including the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, KS (2018); New Orleans Museum of Art; High Art Museums Atlanta; V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark (2018); Anton Kern Gallery, New York, NY (2018); and Premier Regard, Paris, France (2013). Her work has also been reviewed in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Art in America and Artforum.