Abstract

This article reviews Ken Currie’s show Rictus, which ran at the Flowers Gallery on Cork Street in London from 8 November – 9 December 2017. While Currie had many paintings in the show, Krankenhaus is the eerie, unsettling, and powerful zenith of Currie’s work. It contains many of the themes on which Currie continuously ruminates (like the distrust of doctors or the fragility of the human body) but Krankenhaus also curiously focuses on the rhythms and weaknesses of breath and breathing. The painting visually touches on themes of suffocation, rupture, violence and death while also inspiring breathlessness and unease in viewers. This review focuses on Krankenhaus as the linchpin of Currie’s show and an explanation of his thoughts regarding medicine, humanity, and art. 

Keywords: suffocation, breath, Krankenhaus, Rictus, Ken Currie

How to Cite:

Slobogin, C., (2018) “Breathless Rictus: Ken Currie’s Krankenhaus”, Dandelion: Postgraduate Arts Journal and Research Network 9(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.16995/ddl.682