'The Shell' @ Almine Rech Gallery In Paris

Inspired by Peter Schjeldahl’s quote that “Modern art history has ceased to represent a road traveled, and has come to seem an encircling panorama,” this exhibition gathers paintings (landscapes, portraits, shapes) by nearly twenty international artists from different generations, from Bridget Riley to Christian Rosa. Their artistic commitment harks back to some various eras when choosing a discipline –visual arts – didn’t carry the same promises or contingencies. The Shell will be on view until February 14, at Almine Rech Gallery in Paris.

John Currin New Paintings @ Sadie Coles

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[DETAIL] John Currin, Lake Place, 2012, oil on canvas, 178.1 x 152.7 x 2.9 cm / 70 ⅛ x 60 ⅛ x 1 ⅛ in Copyright the artist, courtesy Sadie Coles HQ, London

In his latest show at Sadie Coles HQ, John Currin presents a new series of paintings centred on the female nude. These latest works combine the explicitness of his pornographic paintings of the last five years with a new level of psychological realism. In contrast to those works, which drew upon 1970s magazines, the majority were painted directly from life in the artist’s studio. They show reclining women who appear ambiguously caught between the art-historical trope of the female nude and an appearance of earthy naturalism. On view until August 18, 2012, atSadie Coles 69 South Audley Street London W1

[LITERATURE] What We Lose In Flowers

Karma bookstore‘s in-house publishing house just released a novella, entitled What We Lose in Flowers, by  art dealer and curator Bill Powers which tells the story of a Peter Beard, an artist in a failing relationship with a younger woman who used to date his son. The book opens with a quote from John Currin, “Culture is for old people. When you’re young you have your body, and that’s all you need,” and is dedicated to the recently deceased John McWhinnie, who introduced the artist Richard Prince (who designed the incredible DVD sticker cover) and Mr. Powers. This is actually a second book from Mr. Powers, a former editor at Blackbook, whose first was a novel titled Tall Island. You can purchase the book here.  

Berlinde De Bruyckere and John Currin in Montreal

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left: John Currin, Deauville right: John Currin, The Dane

DHC/ART in Montreal presents two concurrent solo exhibitions by acclaimed Belgian sculptor Berlinde De Bruyckere and American painter John Currin - "two leading international figurative artists working in a virtuosic, old masterly tradition yet testing and expanding the parameters of their respective disciplines." On view until November 13. www.dhc-art.org