Nancy Princenthal reviews Chris Martin: Painting Big at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., on view through October 23, 2011.

Princenthal asks: "Are these immersive fields of pure visual sensation, or narrative works meant to be considered, like conceptual art, at reading distance? Abstraction or figuration? Handmade originals or pastiches of photo-based imagery? Martin prefers both/and to either/or, an inclination that governs everything he does."