Elizabeth Peyton Edited by Zdenek Felix. Essay by Ronald Jones.
Elizabeth Peyton paints portraits of people who matter to her. Be they the iconic faces of Princess Diana, Andy Warhol, Liam Gallagher, and Leonardo DiCaprio or the unfamiliar visages of her friends, lovers, and acquaintances, all appear delicate and painterly, glossy and jewel-like, small in format, and distinctly intimate--as if Peyton knew and loved them all equally. Titles, which reveal only the models' first names, likewise suggest a closeness between the artist and her subject. Working with public photographs borrowed from books and pop magazines, and private photographs shot by herself, the media experience and mediated personality is questioned, transformed, and absorbed into her personal world via the process of painting. Her subjects, fragily beautiful and forever young, are glossed over with a melancholy that recognizes the high price paid for eternal youth.
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