John Currin Comes to Boston

On March 10th the New York artist John Currin spoke at the Museum of Fine Art in Boston to talk about his career. The entire ARA Boston cohort took a field trip to see this presentation. Here are some of his more memorable / most discussed quotes from the evening.

"I wanted to show the compassion, sympathy, and love that can only be achieved on a woman's face." -- When explaining why he painted women's faces with beards.

"It was a fake version of a good idea that turned out better than the original idea. The one (painting) at the end of the idea, the rip-off, when painting the idea has lost its meaning, is often the most successful."

"You can't make a completely serious painting with a banana."

"I didn't want to be known as the porn guy."

"When otherwise good artists start painting from life their work always starts to turn dull and depressing."

If any of these quotes move you, feel free to comment.