Ged Quinn’s show at Tate St. Ives last year was called “Utopia Dystopia.” This one was “The Heavenly Machine,” a tag that likewise carries the infernal and the divine in equal measure. Quinn’s work contributes, along with that of artists like J. P. Munro and Nigel Cooke, to the current reimagining of history painting’s contemporary viability. He shares a sense of perplexity with Munro, though his paint handling and figuration are much more precise; and his disturbing mixture of visual elements and references is akin to Cooke’s compositional range, though Quinn’s are more overtly humorous.

The