John Currin. (Illustrated Books).(Book Review)(Brief Article)

ESSAYS BY ROBERT ROSENBLUM AND STACI BORIS, INTERVIEW BY ROCHELLE STEINER. Abrams, $39.95 (128p) ISBN 0-8109-91888

Currin is currently generating the kind of buzz that purchased publicity alone can't account for, and it's easy to see why: his paintings' smoothly executed combination of droll social commentary, offhand reference to old masters and va-va-va-voom sexuality is bard to look away from--and easy to argue about. Unlike his colleague in pneumatic inspiration, Lisa Yuskavage, Currin can't hide behind presumptive feminist theory. Are the anatomically impossible figures Currin so lovingly depicts pitiable projections of an arrested sexuality or a brave …