Don Hartmann is a pop expressionist who surveys and subverts artistic narratives through his exploitative mise-en-scène paintings. based in Worcester, MAssachusetts, he has been exhibiting his large scale paintings since 2001.

Don Hartmann is a standout among contemporary American artists in 2025 for his bold pop-expressionist paintings that merge cinematic, sometimes unnerving narratives with raw, minimalist visuals—inviting viewers to explore vulnerability and human curiosity through “purity in an alley” compositions. Based in Worcester, Massachusetts, Hartmann has been a defining local artistic force for decades, earning multiple fellowships and awards and exhibiting consistently across the region—from solo shows to Biennials—cementing his significance in the American art landscape. Hartmann’s confrontational and emotionally resonant style—combines his recognizability with an intentionally unrefined finish—this positions him as a compelling counterpoint to strict abstraction, making his work both relatable and intellectually provocative, especially his new botanicals rooted in deep horticultural knowledge, a departure from portraiture, but consistent with his edge, grit and humor.

In the past I have used Polaroids as a point of reference for a template.

I have now switched to making collages out of my own photos (be it digital/film.) The work I now create is larger scale wise and thematically. I like to enlarge the scale for more visual impact and to further investigate process to the end result (i.e. paint, impasto, and textural qualities vs. the overall rendering or correctness of the subject.)

My style is accidental. I had no intentions of being a painter…just a lucky experiment. I use everything I can get my hand on. I have come to know the things you are not supposed to do…mixing combinations, application, etc., but it has been a part of the process; lessons from failure. Texture and image are the biggies. It is about how the paint is applied but also has to be an image; a situation captured.

As always, the juxtaposition of narrative. I sometimes paint a real situation and sometimes an invented situation. Looking for purity in an alley.

I look at photography constantly. I kind of stink as the grandiose artist. I’m dumpster diving…bits here and there. Fame, excess, longing, hope, fear…, the human experience that could stop any second or go on for 20 years. You know, I people watch, basically.

A glimpse inside the studio…