“…When I was trying to change myself into a figurative painter, I was more drawn to the rococo and the other damned souls of art history.” – John Currin

Artist John Currin joins James Cuno, president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust, discuss how traditional portraiture influenced Currin's modern interpretation of the form. Co-presented with The Broad's The Un-Private Collection art talk series and the Getty Museum's Getty Perspectives series, their conversation considered Currin's works in the Broad collections and classic European paintings and drawings in the Getty collection.

Currin emerged in the 1990s as one of the freshest voices in American art and was among a wave of contemporary artists who established a renewed interest in portraiture. Drawing from sources as diverse as Northern Renaissance paintings and pinup magazines, he is known for his distortions of the human figure and his critiques of societal ideals of beauty. Currin is also known for his contemporary renditions of old master poses and formats that often conflate opposing sensibilities—vaulted taste with vulgarity, sentimentality with irony, and conventional beauty with banality. Often rife with art historical references and suggestions, Currin’s work overlays with the Getty’s mission as an institution dedicated to critical thinking in the presentation, conservation, and interpretation of the world's artistic legacy.

View works by John Currin in the collections

Internationally acclaimed contemporary Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, who is represented by 11 works in the Broad collections, was in conversation with author and longtime resident of Japan Pico Iyer. Murakami is known for his bold, graphic works that merge fine art, design and animation and continue to blur the lines between high art and pop culture. His wide appeal and star power often mask his deeply intelligent take on Japanese culture and knowledge which emerges from extensive training in classical painting and his doctorate in Japanese art. The author of numerous books on crossing cultures and a regular contributor to Time, Harper’s, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times, and many other publications, Iyer’s writings intersect with Murakami’s work in their focus on the common disconnect between local tradition and imported global pop culture. The pair discussed the complex social and historical narratives woven into Murakami’s work and how they reflect upon contemporary Japanese culture.

View works by Takashi Murakami in the collections

Read a full transcript of the talk

The Broad presented visual artist and world renowned filmmaker Shirin Neshat in conversation with Christy MacLear, executive director of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, in The Un-Private Collection: Artist as Activist. Co-presented with the Library Foundation of Los Angeles’s ALOUD series, the talk was held at the Central Library’s Mark Taper Auditorium. In her provocative work, visual artist and filmmaker Neshat has addressed the issues of social repression in her native Iran, from where she has been exiled for most of her career. She also reaches beyond her own identity in her work to address broader concerns about freedom, individuality and the power of the erotic.

Listen to a podcast of the full program

View works by Shirin Neshat in the collections