ART CITIES:Hong Kong-John Currin
Although John Currin is often accused of misogynistic tendencies due to his subject matter, he contends his presentations are intended as satirical references to society’s ever-present barrage of the elusive “ideal” fed to us through art history, media, advertising, and the glossy pages of magazines. This exploration into vanity continues to inform his work today.
By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Gagosian Archive
New portraits by John Currin are on presentation on his first solo exhibition in Hong Kong and his first exhibition in Asia. Currin’s current exhibition at Dallas Contemporary “My Life as a Man” (15/9-22/12/19) focuses on his depictions of men and masculinity throughout the course of his career. In this series of new portraits that are on show at Gagosian Gallery Hong Kong, Currin returns to his most beloved subject: women. These latest paintings demonstrate some persistent themes in Currin’s oeuvre, as well as a deep exploration of the genre of female portraiture. Characteristically, these women often appear as half-real, half-imagined, as though only part of the artist’s subject were held up to a distorting mirror, with the rest left intact. In one painting, a woman in classical drapery is posed against a blank, gray background, one delicate hand placed protectively over her exposed breast, her attitude at odds with the delirious expression on her face. In another, a woman wearing a silk head wrap is set against a yellow background. Her expression, with its inert smile, is vacant; her matronly bosom, covered in a floral-printed blouse, slopes downward, ending comically and abruptly at the limits of the painting. The resulting affect is one of both nostalgic sweetness and total disengagement. Currin was born in Colorado to a physics professor father and piano teacher mother. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Northern California, first settling in Palo Alto, and later, Santa Cruz. They finally moved to Connecticut when he was ten. Currin went on to study at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he obtained a BFA in 1984. Immediately afterward, he pursued an MFA at Yale, where he became close friends with Lisa Yuskavage and Sean Landers. He completed his MFA in 1986, then moved to New York City. The year 1989 marked his first major exhibition with a series of portraits of young girls derived from photographs in high school yearbooks. By this point he had developed a distinct, kitschy style of figurative painting that focused on bold depictions of women and men, drawing inspiration from sources like Playboy and Cosmopolitan. By 1992, Currin was selling his work at Andrea Rosen Gallery, and had established himself as a critical and financial success. The frank sexuality of Currin’s work attracted its fair share of controversy throughout the 1990s, with a number of critics dismissing it as sexist and misogynistic. Currin’s popularity continues to bloom along with, and perhaps despite, his commitment to pushing society’s buttons. Despite being tinged with irony, Currin’s deep affection and affinity for his subjects are evident, his eloquent brushstrokes conveying satire and sincerity in equal measure.
Info: Gagosian Gallery, 7/F Pedder Building, 12 Pedder Street, Central, Hong Kong, Duration: 26/11/19-29/2/20, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 11:00-19:00, https://gagosian.com
