
Turbanetta
2016
Turbanetta (2016) presents John Currin working at the intimate scale of the printed page, distilling his signature blend of Old Master reverence and knowing provocation into a format that rewards close looking. The subject, a figure rendered with the kind of theatrical composure Currin draws from Northern Renaissance portraiture, is rendered through a technically layered combination of etching, mezzotint, and aquatint, producing a tonal range that moves from velvety shadow into finely bitten line with remarkable subtlety. The choice of Gampi paper laid on handmade Kochi NB paper adds a material delicacy to the work, lending the surface a luminous, almost translucent quality that distinguishes it from more conventional printmaking supports. Currin's prints occupy a distinct place within his broader practice, offering collectors access to his obsessive engagement with historical image-making in a concentrated and highly considered form. His printmaking is never a secondary endeavor but rather an extension of the same critical and aesthetic intelligence that drives his celebrated paintings. Turbanetta carries the same layered art historical charge as his canvases, inviting reflection on idealization, femininity, and the accumulated weight of Western pictorial tradition. The work is signed by the artist, confirming its status as an authenticated and collectible object within Currin's printed oeuvre.
- Medium
- Etching with mezzotint and aquatint on Gampi Paper laid on Handmade Kochi NB paper
- Sheet
- Signed
- Yes
- Spotted At
- Gallery · Gagosian
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