John Currin: The Expressionist and Caricaturist
John Currin is perhaps most widely known for his abnormally large depictions of female bosoms. While his comically exaggerated style puts a somewhat satirical caricature-esque edge on his paintings, what is the purpose of this style and where does it stem from?
Categorically, Currin’s work can be described as a mixture of romantic art, with the depictions of rather erotic matter, and expressionist art, with features that are highly exaggerated in an intentional way that evokes a more emotional response from the consumer. In one of his more well known pieces, The Bra Shop, we can see two females with incredibly exaggerated bosoms, one with measuring tape wrapped around the other. The cartoon-like depiction of these two females is both raunchy and perhaps analytical of modern beauty standards.
Currin’s Minerva portrays an old woman with a slightly exaggerated mouth and nose. While this specific painting may not have the raunchy edge that many of his other works do, it still is a normal portrait of a woman that has been exaggerated as an attempt to draw the viewer in and elicit emotion.
Perhaps Currin’s style is both used to entice the eye of consumers as well as bring attention to specific implications and commentary to larger scale ideas. Either way, his unique spin on contemporary portraiture does exactly what it is meant to: provoke a response.
