Howdy!
This is the first part of a video of the talk I gave (with Kate Puxley) at the Stewart Hall Art Gallery on, about and around the Copy / Paste exhibition.
Three more to follow in the coming days.
Category Archives: Video
John Currin at the DHC/ART Foundation
Howdy!
Fourth Floor
Big Hands, 2010
Big Hands, Big Breasts,
Small Head, shirt knot on her chest.
Deauville, 2007 & Rotterdam, 2006
I‘m not sure what Deauville has to do with Rotterdam
If the pictures were taken in a brothel, do royalties get paid to the Madam?
As long as I am asking questions I wonder if either one uses a diaphragm?
Quite possibly, the easiest way to explain “wham bam thank you ma’am.”
Malmö, 2006
Malmö’s another brothel scene
The couple pictured doesn’t look older than eighteen.
The Dane, 2006
The second act of Hamlet would be easier to explain
To high school males if it was illustrated with “The Dane.”
Big breasted naked women with mismatched body parts
Apparently one of them is his sweetheart
Despite the fact that his brushwork is never roughshod
There’s something that always seems odd.
Patch and Pearl, 2007
Patch and Pearl gazing out in the distance
A complete understanding gives some resistance.
Third Floor
Thanksgiving, 2003
Singing for her supper or taking a taste?
The action in this painting is not snail-paced.
Not at all traditional, kind of quirky,
Take a gander at the size of the turkey.
Rachel in Fur, 2002
Currin as Kusiemski?
Would you disagree?
Given his porn paintings
It’s hard to see them abstaining.
Bent Lady, 2003
A Bent Lady with a bunch of roses
Damien Hirst Knowses.
Anna, 2004
Anna smiles sweetly behind a banana and a three branched candelabrum
No matter how hard I try, this isn’t abstract expressionism.
The Christian, 2005
Some woman with a melon as a breast,
I would hate to see how he paints her fesses.
I don’t understand all the fruit in a bowl
Does eating grapes help your soul?
Second Floor
The Old Guy, 1994
I like the skinny dude’s sweater
He’s an old guy, I hope he gets better.
Hanging out in the bathroom
Is he talking? And if so to whom?
The Berliner, 1994
Did Mr. Currin live in Berlin?
The paint on this one is not thin.
There’s still something weird
It might be the hair, it might be the beard.
The Invalids, 1997
It took a while for me to notice the wheelchair
Smack dab in the middle of the painting is a mighty big pair.
Add to that hand coming out of her head
And you can understand how I was misled.
Sno-bo, 1999
Santa’s little helper
Diaphanous skirts as it were.
The two don’t quite meld.
While I was looking at it parts of my body swelled.
Stamford after brunch, 2000
I wonder what the etiquette
is in Stamford, Connecticut?
Smoking cigars and drinking martinis,
I’m surprised that they’re not wearing bikinis!
Honeymoon Nude, 1998
I wonder if Ms. Feinstein sculpted John
Or is showing her off naked, for him a turn on?
First Floor
The Neverending Story, 1994
Atreyu? Bastian Bux?
Is he thinking, “I wonder if she fucks?”
Girl in bed, 1993
Whose hand? And why’s she looking away?
Is she lost in her thoughts and far away?
Or is it bedtime and she’s about to hit the hay?
Mrs. Omni, 1993
You can never be too thin or too rich.
Mrs. Omni is a fairly standard issue portrait about which
There isn’t much I can say.
I can’t figure out why he chose her to portray.
Bea Arthur Naked, 1991
I wonder if Mr. Currin watched Maude
When he was growing up? And was awed
As I was by the television show.
Although I have to admit I dreamt about Adrienne Barbeau.
Old Couple, 1993
Two people painted on a background that’s beige
Despite, or maybe because of, their clothes, they look their age.
Brown Lady, 1991
What’s the opposite of brown?
While she’s smiling, I frown.
There’s something off, not quite right
I think it has to do with the background being very bright.
The Wizard, 1994
A wizard, a thaumaturge, a necromancer
Those breasts definitely enhance her.
I’m not certain I want to know what type of spell he will cast
This was the first painting in the show and it mirrors the last.
Apologies, I only realized too late that I had failed to recite these last four lines. When it comes time to release the “Director’s Cut” version, I will re-record it completely.
Myriam Yates, Racetrack – Superstar – Ghost
Howdy!
Ms. Yates’ video is of Blue Bonnets being transformed
Before, during and after U2 performed
Long static shots
How do you connect if there are no dots?
Some interesting angles with some interesting views
Oddly compelling, I kept looking for clues.
It’s not the type of art I normally praise
But after looking at so much art, I might have been in a daze.
Ève K. Tremblay’s work in La Triennale Québécoise
Howdy!
Lots of pictures of people reading a book
Kinda interesting, thought provoking and worth a look.
Shoved in a corner
Now that Eve lives in New York, she’s a foreigner.
Slightly more than simple visual representation
There’s a theory that she uses as a foundation
For the basis of her works
If you scratch the surface you can see where it lurks
[The User], Quartet for Dot Matrix Printers
Howdy!
This one is a sham,
I guess there was a paper jam.
Speakers playing a recording
Is not very rewarding.
The real thing
Had some swing
Hearing and seeing the noises, squeaks and creaks
From four printers now considered antiques.
Justin Stephens, 14
Howdy!
Give me a break,
This one takes the cake
It must be a mistake.
Canvas scrap
On a pen cap
There’s an obvious rhyme here, but I’m not falling into that trap.
The catalogue has it prominently displayed
I think it is a big charade
Can I go back in time and have it unmade?
Charles Stankievech, Loveland
Howdy!
About Loveland, I’ve already written
But I can do more since I’m smitten
I wonder when filming, did Chuck wear mittens?
On the horizon a purple cloud
The audio starts quiet and gets quite loud
Tim Hecker should be proud.
Based on an early sci-fi book
Just like a Motown song, it’s got a killer hook
Mr. Stankievech is the opposite of a mook.
Séripop, Jusqu’au cou
Howdy!
It could be translated as “without a paddle”
For this art there is no line to straddle.
The propper translation of Jusqu’au cou
Should’ve been without a clue.
A bunch of construction paper tacked to a wall
And a bunch of paper tubes, that’s all.
Nothing serious,
Sort of ridiculous
Paper art when done well
Can compel.
Peter Callesen, Jen Stark,
Both make their mark.
Brian Dettmer, Richard Sweeney,
Both could be called genies.
Bert Simons, Guy Laramée
Will never be passe
Seripop
Gigaflop
François Morelli, Moon Walks
Howdy!
July 20, 1969 and March 25, 1983 are two dates.
Calling torn flags, moon walks is like tempting the fates.
On the first, Neil Armstrong jumped around on the moon,
On the second, Michael Jackson made an entire country swoon
Eight flags, wrapped around a shoe
And then walked on til they were worn through
Not exactly something that makes me go “oooh!”
I walked under them
I don’t know if I would go so far as to condemn.
More of a curiosity
Than an atrocity.
jake moore, aerie: clear channel
Howdy!
Fur covered balloon
And something like a cocoon.
I not sure I understand
Kind of bland.
I distinctly remember one not the other
jake’s a she, I wonder if she’s a mother?
An aerie is “the nest of a bird of prey”
I’m not sure what she’s trying to convey.
Clear Channel is a large corporation
Of fairly uniform radio stations
If it were a sporting event I would boo
The juxtapostion of the two.