The Arts

The Artist

Andrew Hahn is a self-described accidental painter whose work has been described by at least three people — two of whom are family members — as “striking,” “evocative,” and once, memorably, “very large.” Working primarily in acrylic on canvas, Hahn brings to his practice the same restless curiosity that drives his journalism: an insistence on looking directly at the thing everyone else is walking past.

His canvases are bold. They are unapologetic. They occupy a room in the way that only truly committed art — or a very large piece of furniture — can. Critics have noted his fearless use of color, his instinct for composition, and his willingness to let a painting breathe rather than overwork it into submission. (He also knows when to put the brush down, which, as any painter will tell you, is half the battle.)

Hahn’s work has been exhibited in private collections across North America and, depending on how broadly one defines “internationally,” also in one Airbnb in Cancun. He paints the way he writes — with conviction, with humor, and with the firm belief that the world is more interesting when you pay attention to it.

“I don’t paint what I see. I paint what I think I see, filtered through everything I’ve read, experienced, and half-remembered. Which, when you think about it, is also how most journalism works.”

— Andrew Hahn, Founder & Editor, The Hairy Times