Touching greatness

The obvious thing about Richard Wathen's paintings is their elegant and highly-crafted pillaging of art historical styles. Less obvious though, because it's only just at the threshold of awareness, is a brooding strangeness which is almost grotesque. Wathen's subject matter is that of an ambiguously sexualised childhood, which he situates in relation to ideas of touching and the tactile. Depicted with fetishistic attention, the artist uses conservative painting techniques and flattened modelling. It's all reminiscent of Ingres, who was himself accused of freakery so Wathen is in good company. His jokes about art archaisms are good, but his creation of intense psychological moods is better - great even.