Stuart Hahn exhibits Eden at Medulla Gallery

Known for his work on mythology, local folklore, people and culture, as well as religious imagery, artist Stuart Hahn has once again produced a body of work true to his style and interests, full of beauty, detail and movement.

His new exhibition, Eden, has 27 pieces, mostly black and white with a few coloured pieces, in ink and coloured pencil on paper. It is the story of Adam and Eve, the original sin, their banishment from Eden, and Cain and Abel.

Not for those easily offended, Eden comprises mostly nude figures and, though the images are not sexual, they exude a sense of sensuality, as does much of his other work.

Hahn said the story of Eden is a complicated one that follows through on a previous exhibition, The Creation, a series of miniature abstract pieces on the seven days of creation in the Bible.

Two of Eden’s pieces are not specifically from the story but imagined from the Inferno, the first part of 14th-century Italian writer Dante Alighieri's epic three-part poem, Divine Comedy. They depict the story of Francesca da Rimini and Paolo, who were murdered by her husband when they were discovered kissing. Their punishment was being thrown through hell on a spiral with other adulterers.

He added them to give the exhibition some colour, but his style is consistent.

Hahn explained he has always been fascinated with Art Nouveau, which uses a lot of swirling and flowing lines.

“I like to create movement and interest in what is a static two-dimensional medium, keeping the eye moving around the drawing or painting. Also to create an interesting line because everywhere is lines and that has a direct origin in Art Nouveau.”

For him, the best way to express lines is with the pen and he uses coloured pencils because, even though the process can be painstaking, he feels they chose him rather than him choosing them.

Hahn was a graphic illustrator in the advertising industry during the 1970s and illustrated three children’s' books – Derek Walcott's Ti Jean And His Brothers, The Selfish Geni, and Tales of the Paria Main Road.

His work is generally very detailed because illustrations in books are usually looked at from relatively close up.

“I always thought when you’re looking at an illustration, little details will come to you. Maybe because, as a child, I delighted in the work of (children’s book illustrator) Arthur Rackham. where he had trees with faces and stuff like that.”

Hahn, 73, has always been fascinated by the Italian Renaissance, when artists painted all the stories of the Bible. As an illustrator, he illustrates stories, and this time he chose to continue that tradition and illustrate the story of Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel.

“I suppose this was cooking in me for the longest while and it suddenly came to a boil and it finally happened.

“I was fascinated too because I found the story to be a very cruel one. I found the punishment to be cruel, and if you read between the lines I don’t think that God comes across terribly well in the story. He comes across as being very petulant. This was his creation, after all –surely he expected this to happen. So who is really to blame?”

He said while he was doing the drawings, many such thoughts came to mind, which was why he created The Dilemma of Eve. He said mothers usually love their children unconditionally, but she had two children – one good and one bad. Being the first woman, it must have been an ordeal for her, and she could not seek counsel from anyone.

He said he never understood why any sacrifice was necessary and why God favoured Abel’s sacrifice over Cain’s. He pointed out that God favouring Abel instigated Cain’s jealousy and murderous action. He felt while Cain’s actions were unforgivable, he was as much a victim as Abel.

Nude or prude

Hahn told Newsday a fellow artist believed people may be embarrassed by the nudity in the collection and so may not take the time to study the details, but he did not believe that would be the case.

He said TT had Carnival where women were practically naked and wining in the streets in full view of everyone and so wondered why people take issue with a penis being shown in art. He said no matter what people do, someone would take offence, so he was not very concerned.

“I don’t understand people’s problem with penises. How did we get here? I mean, in Hinduism there is the Shiva Lingam, which people try to say is not the confluence of the yoni and the linga (male and female reproductive organs) in the actual creation. I understand this kind of prudery and problems coming from way back from Christianity and religion, but I don’t really understand (why prudery is applicable now).

“On the other hand, art is not just to please. It is there to make you think. And is also there to offend and if you're offended by something, then good! I mean, it says more about you than the work. Why opinion should offend I do not know.”

He said some people may not see the work as “Trinidadian,” but although he was born in Nevis, he has lived most of his life in Trinidad and, as a Trinidadian was doing the work, it too was Trinidadian. Also, some of the figures in Eden have African features.

He said he did not understand why some artists create strictly African or Indian pieces when TT is a multi-cultural society. He recalled growing up in Palmiste near an Indian community, and his mother would encourage him to get involved in their religious and cultural activities.

He felt a closeness to them and his body of work embraces both African and Indian cultures.

Asked what he hoped people would get out of Eden, he said he wants people to be overwhelmed and maybe brought to tears. He said he wants want people, especially young artists, to see the work that went into the pieces. He wants his sincerity to shine through and for them to realise there is more to art than a formula to make money.

As the thought of making money with his art is not in the forefront of his mind, he has been working on a book of erotic drawings based on the story of Rachael Pringle Polgreen, a former slave turned hotelier and brothel owner in Barbados in the 1700s, although he does not believe there is a market for it.

He is also considering an exhibition based on a play by Jean Genet set in a brothel where people go to explore their fantasies.

“Human nature is not always pleasant, not always acceptable, but it's there. Why should these things not be faced square-on the same way we face wars, which are outright murder, square-on?

"That’s why I say, ‘If you're offended, good.’ I’m sure Picasso said that a lot.”

Eden opens at Medulla Art Gallery, Woodbrook, on July 27 and runs until August 29.

There will be an artist talk session with Hahn at the gallery on August 10.