Elizabeth Peyton (b.1965, Connecticut) has been credited with infusing the ancient art of portraiture with a new life. Published this autumn to coincide with her major solo show at the New Museum in New York, Live Forever: Elizabeth Peyton features full-colour reproductions of the artist’s portraits of contemporary pop stars, royalty, artists and friends. The exhibition travels to the Whitechapel Gallery, London next spring.
Peyton’s influences and obsessions range widely: from rock-and-roll fandom to fashion illustration, from the Pop of David Hockney and Andy Warhol to the classicism of the Old Masters, from undisguised innocence to bohemian excess. Employing photography and life drawing, her enamoured yet refreshingly informal technique underscores her uniquely delicate hybrid of high and low culture, executed with seemingly effortless fluidity.
Exhibition:
Live Forever: Elizabeth Peyton
Opens on October 8, 2008 at the New Museum, New York City
14 February – 14 June 2009: Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
9 July – 20 September 2009: London at the Whitechapel Art Gallery
21 October 2009 – 21 March 2010: Bonnefantenmuseum in Maastricht
