Paint Made Flesh at The Phillips Collection (Washington, DC), June 20-September 13, 2009

[TheOneworld4u]

JOHN CURRIN COPIED MOST OF THE PAINTINGS FROM PLAYBOY MAGAZINE AND HE ADMITTED IT. THAT IS NOT A TRUE ARTIST, JUST A COPYCAT ARTIST.

[MrB0mbdiggity]

@TheOneworld4u how are you one to judge what a true artist is, you RETARD

[slatgrill]

Robert Lenkiewicz work was better

[TheViolenceMan]

amazing

[konzwambii]

The word "currin" should enter the dictionary, meaning "bad art". He'd be happy though...

[3liteX]

Oh and again at 0:43 - 0:45 and alot through out the video > FLaged as inapropriate

[33zekiel]

@3liteX its a friggin painting dood. if someone can find this video then they are going to find a lot worse. you Jobswerth

[3liteX]

0:33 shows a naked painting can now be technicaly falged as inappropriate not that i will but yep,

[spd13062]

I love the work of John Currin, and of Eric Fischl.

[meesterschilders]

great images used... 5*

[claureic]

A rather uneven show: some highs (Guston, Golub, Rothenberg, Bacon...), some lows (Currin, Saville, Schnabel...)and some in-betweens (Fischl, Brown, Freud...).

[brbrkl]

@claureic wow, i bet u r the usual snobbish hipster with no clue what art is. In your hip magazine they say that BACON IS BIG! so let's write it on utube. Freud is a "in between"? are u friggin serious? give me a break

[claureic]

@brbrkl Freud is an academic in-between and I'm the usual snobbish hipster with no clue what art is, if you say so, yet with 800 artbooks in my library...

[brbrkl]

@claureic the deepness of your character is symbolized by the fact that you shows your knowledge writing the number of ''artbooks'' in your library

[claureic]

@brbrkl Your gratuitous aggressiveness makes me yawn...Let's talk about Freud: the quality of the work cannot be measured by the quantity of paint daubed on the canvas. Freud is no Rembrandt (see the Jewish Bride). Freud doesn't say anything new; everything he does was done better before by Hals, Manet and Soutine. he paints the ugliness; so what? It's been done before and better. He paints what we can see. Bacon paints what we can't see...

[LeeMIlby]

@claureic

omg... i didn't even realize this was you. Uh, anyway, i wanted to say that imagery is a learned experience while subtleties like the artist hand manipulating the paint is something that triggers levels of emotion. You aren't born knowing what everything looks like, you aren't even born knowing how to see (one of the first things you learn in life is how to define edge and what edge means). Imagery and manipulation thereof becomes literary. Personally, i find Freud inspiring.

[claureic]

@LeeMIlby OK, but if paint handling is purely emotional, then where is the emotion in Freud? It looks so artificially created to me, so unspontaneous, in a word, so "learned"..Also, whatever Robert Hughes says, where is his skill as a draftsman?

[LeeMIlby]

@claureic

This one is hard to answer, because it's all about subjectivity. If you don't see it, i really can't force you to. But i know from experience painting and teaching people how to paint that when you are totally true to a form, letting something that exists beyond your mind and beyond your body guide your hand, then the thing that is produced is more real than reality itself. When i look at his work, i can see the pure sincerity of his intentions, and those bring out his own "style"

[LeeMIlby]

@claureic

And you can't really expect him to have "skill as a draftsman" and at the same time, denounce his "learned/academic" style of painting. With so many expectations being applied here, no wonder he seems like a failure. Artists can't please everyone, they can only stay true to their sensibilities and hope and pray that somebody enjoys the work.

[claureic]

@LeeMIlby Not saying Freud is a failure, far from it. Only saying he is overrated. Again, an in-between academic painter, but, yes, a pretty bad draftsman (see his print show last year...).Mastering technique does not necessary entail academism. Picasso was a great draftsman...

[LeeMIlby]

@claureic

Every artist has their strong points. Freud's is color and form/shape. Picasso was perhaps, imagination. I don't really get the whole comparing of artists from completely different eras to each other... i mean, if the artists were directly influenced by each other or were friends, i understand the significance. But i don't think it's productive to compare attributes out of the blue. I don't see the academy in Freud, i see the consistency, but no influence really beyond himself

[claureic]

@LeeMIlby I am not comparing X to Y. I am using examples to illustrate some of the points I am trying to make. I do agree with you: comparing in art is irrelevant.

[claureic]

@LeeMIlby Btw, in this show you have many examples that illustrate what you said about Currin, IMO: Guston, Golub, etc...With them, yes, you can talk about self-doubt, endless learning process, struggle...

[LeeMIlby]

@claureic

Sure you can, but just because some artists struggle more extrovertively than others that the ones who tend to internalize are not struggling. Art is always a struggle, everyone's struggle is different. Guston was riding the waves of conflict...WWII, the 60's... he had a lot to think about and was allowed to think aloud. People can't attach themselves to a movement today, so that's a new hardship. Esp. for someone like Currin who goes against the ambiguous grain.

[claureic]

@LeeMIlby Sorry, but I don't see crowd-pleasing Currin as going against the grain...

[LeeMIlby]

@claureic

Figure painting is really out now, you must be aware of that. Figure painters are shunned in the art world, it is a completely backward-looking subject and goes entirely against this modern era that looks so much to the future. Figure painters go against the grain. Traditional use of paint does too, and so does *gasp!* fine-art illustration.

[claureic]

@LeeMIlby I beg to differ: E.Peyton, J.Currin and Lisa Yuskavage are highly successful and artworld stars, and all of them figurative. Maybe it was true 15 years ago, but nolonger.

[LeeMIlby]

@claureic

Interestingly, some people say that Currin stole Lisa Yuskavage's style. There are a lot of ways that people rise to power, and not all of the paths depend on skill or even sensibility (The CIA pushed abstract expressionism). The art world is a huge conversation, from what i've experienced, i'd say that artistic ideologies are separate in many ways from the market.

[unmiron]

Wow here are some ugly and amateur paintings, way are they telling us that they are great paintings

[3liteX]

@unmiron can you do better??

[sirdoug3]

Yeah, Re: Metaphor/Analogy between Oil Paint & Flesh, any painter worthy of his/her salt has always Known That!

[MrVorheese]

Although I love so many of these artists there are so many others under the radar that the public never gets to see with such visibility. Artists like Antonio Lopez Garcia who just had a show in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts ( too bad it did not travel) or Odd Nerdrum , who to my knowledge has not yet had a museum show. Also younger artists like Steven Assael, Vince Desiderio or Bo Bartlet are all amazing talents. Curators play it safe with name brands.

[LeeMIlby]

@MrVorheese

Odd has not been in a museum??? I totally agree with you on Bo Bartlet and Vincent Desiderio... they are two of my top favorite artists.

[mdhwrites]

hope to see the show Sunday! From the video, it looks like an amazing exhibition

[ilikepants711]

We will be there Friday!