John Currin's Honeymoon Nude 1998I bought this book about John Currin's art the other day. No, it's not the big, fat expensive one. It's the smaller book that was published around the time of his 2003 exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. I have never seen any Currin works in person, but I would like to. I especially like his nudes of 1998-99 and his "Hobo" and "Sno-bo" paintings. They are beautiful. The skin and hands are especially nice. The humor is subtle in these.
But, there is much to look at in his other works as well which are often laugh-out-loud funny.
Mainly, I look at how he uses oil paint and how he obviously enjoys painting - the lusciousness of the oils and the effects that are achieved through slow layering, textures, happy accidents and the spontaneity of wet-on-wet painting. He is sometimes delicate, sometimes rough. He uses the paint every which way he can think of. In crazy ways. In logical ways. Many styles rolled into one painting. Inspiring stuff if you are an oil painter. Oil paint is just so delicious to use. I'm hooked on it myself.
(Please do not eat the paint, dear readers.)
Nude with a Cat 1949 by Balthus
