Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1237002
Clockwise from top left: John Currin's Lovers in the Country, 1993 John Currin: Men, published by Gagosian John Currin's Hollis, 2010 48 JOHN CURRIN'S LATEST CHAPTER: MEN, THE BOOK L ast fall's blockbuster Dallas Contemporary exhibition "John Currin: My Life as a Man" ranked among the high points of the 2019 Texas museum world, and was Currin's first American museum show in 15 years. Now the book that documents the exhibition arrives in time for our stay-at-home reading sessions. John Currin: Men is a mammoth tome that contributes fresh scholarship as it weighs in on one of the most acclaimed but controversial painters of our time. Since the 1990s, Currin has captivated both public and critics alike for returning realism to canvas; his art unforgettably marries 16th-century Mannerist technique with 20th-century pin-up-like subjects. Hot off the press at 208 pages, this lavishly illustrated, definitive volume examines the artist's least-known series. Tracing the male in Currin's art, the book illuminates his decades- spanning practice with new meaning for today. Dallas Contemporary adjunct curator Alison M. Gingeras, organizer of "My Life as a Man," serves as editor and contributes a pivotal essay, "Mansplaining: Figuring Masculinity in the Age of #MeToo." Joining Gingeras in offering insight and essays into Currin's rich oeuvre are cultural critic Naomi Fry and psychoanalyst Jamieson Webster. As the painter himself told PaperCity, capturing male subjects is more challenging than depicting women. "Painting men is a completely different experience for me than painting women," the artist said. "I don't know whether the men are self-portraits; B Y C AT H E R I N E D . A N S P O N they convey something very different for me emotionally than women do. Because I consider men ugly on the surface … That's always been my question: how to make a beautiful painting out of flawed material." $100, published by Gagosian, distributed by Rizzoli; through gagosian.com and area booksellers. CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: © JOHN CURRIN, COURTESY GAGOSIAN. PUBLICATION © 2019 GAGOSIAN, ARTWORK © 2019 JOHN CURRIN. © JOHN CURRIN, PHOTO ROB McKEEVER, COURTESY GAGOSIAN.