Say what you will about the tacky/porno subject matter of John Currin’s work, he knows how to paint.  His new canvases at the Gagosian are rendered with impressive skill.  The soft, luminous surfaces have a sensuality that transcends the imagery.

We could have predicted a great deal of it: voluptuous maidens with cascading curls and cockeyed smiles, pictured singly and in groups. But there are a few paintings that break the mold, offering more complex mises-in-scenes.  In the richness and strangeness of their compositions they evoke Dutch paintings.  And Currin’s handling of the figure in some of the works is so assured that it seems almost classical.  The subject of the paintings might not matter at all.

(John Currin, Hot Pants, 2010.  Oil on canvas)