In John Currin's latest show at Gagosian Gallery, he has all but abandoned the exploration of the grotesque and the lascivious. It is a small show with large paintings that look more like Norman Rockwell and feel less like Otto Dix. With the exception of two large paintings, the work could be done by a contemporary realist painter enthralled with the art of the past. Indeed Currin has stated his affection for Northern European painting and it is clear, once again, in the forms of the female figures.
Some of the forms tend towards decorative arcs that are less natural than they are mannerist but it is easy to overlook this as, in this exhibit, he has shown himself to be a superb painter. A good example of his talents is in the way he paints drapery; he works with varying degrees of thickness to allow the paint to advance or recede. Up close one can make out the warm red ground (imprimatura) and the similarly toned outline that in some cases peeks through the tiny space where one object stops and another starts. With the figure he tends towards elegant understatement allowing the forms to disappear into lush silvery and creamy tones of paint. I think he paints legs very well, striking a nice balance between action and rest.
But there is more to a painting than how the paint is applied and in those areas Currin excels, too. The spaces are clearly defined, the illusion is strong. If the light is inconsistent it is not glaringly so. The forms tend towards the unnatural but it is only in the most awkward caricature that it is bothersome (fortunately not much on display in this show).
The work holds together as group but unlike other years, most paintings contain a single isolated figure. Currin's strong sense of social commentary or ironic narrative is missing in most and is only clearly seen in three paintings (albeit large with two or three figures). Currin is a deft postmodernist who sometimes must defend his desire to paint well. But looking at his work throughout his career, it is clear that Currin is able to pick and choose the best pieces of paintings or periods to from which to borrow.
There are several things from which a traditionally minded painter can learn. For example, what's nice is that Currin uses these selected elements to construct a world. Everything exists in a believable setting unlike many Post-Modernists that, say, work with collage. The collage highlights the artist's selection but by retaining the look of the selected element the work lacks cohesion. This tendency to construct a world is actually an optimistic endeavor. It shows a way out of Post-Modernism (with its collapse of narrative and refusal of a harmonious whole ) and it is called mythopoesis.