Live Forever Elizabeth Peyton – Catalogue Review
Book Presents American Artist's Work From the Last Fifteen Years
Jul 9, 2009
Live Forever Elizabeth Peyton has been co-published by the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, and Phaidon Press Ltd., to accompany an exhibition of the same name showcasing the work of American artist Elizabeth Peyton. The show is sponsored by Banana Republic.
The display has been shown at the New Museum and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Visitors to the Whitechapel Gallery can view the exhibition from 9th July to 20th September 2009, after which it will move to the Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Live Forever Elizabeth Peyton – About the Catalogue
Live Forever Elizabeth Peyton, tells the reader as much as about the artist, her life, her friends and acquaintances, as it does about her art and how she has recorded the culture of the last fifteen years.
The catalogue is somewhat unusual in its design and structure. It opens with a Foreword by Lisa Phillips, Director of the New Museum, pasted on the inside of the hardback cover. The catalogue continues with several sections, the titles of which will challenge readers to explore the contents further.
- Ephemera. The book opens with a 65-page text-free zone. Ephemera contains artwork and photographs upon which the artist has based much of her work. These pages feature photographs of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, Frida Kahlo, David Hockney, Sid Vicious, Princess Diana and many more. The dividing point between this section and the next is marked, not by a printed chapter heading, but by a change in the quality and type of paper used.
- Works. The next 160 pages, also text-free, feature all the pieces displayed in the exhibition, together with many additional items not included in the show. This section features portraits of historic figures such as Ludwig II of Bavaria, Marie Antoinette and Rupert Brooke, as well as portraits of Peyton's contemporaries such as Liam Gallagher, Jarvis Cocker, Pete Doherty and many more.
- Fin de Siècle, an essay by Laura Hoptman, discusses Peyton's work over the last 15 years and the influence of artists such as Andy Warhol.
- Excessive Life by Iwona Blazwick asks how the artist achieves such remarkable intensity in her portraits, all of which are small scale. Blazwick draws parallels between Peyton's portraiture and the panel paintings of Northern Renaissance masters such as Hans Holbein or Lucas Cranach.
- John Giorno's contribution, Her Hand Dipped in Wisdom, discusses his experiences when posing for a Peyton portrait.
- The List of Illustrated Works provides a brief description of each painting.
The publication concludes with a short Biography of Elizabeth Peyton, a detailed Bibliography, Acknowledgements and Index.
Live Forever Elizabeth Peyton – About the Contributors
Laura Hoptman is currently Kraus Family Senior Curator at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York.
Iwona Blazwick OBE (formerly Blaszczyk), Director of the Whitechapel Gallery, London, has many years experience as an independent curator having produced shows featuring work by Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley and other well-known artists.
John Giorno is a North American poet and performance artist, founder of the artist collective Giorno Poetry Systems. He became well-known as the subject of Andy Warhol's film Sleep. He is also an AIDS activist and fundraiser.
The 255-page catalogue, ISBN: 978-07148 48860, has been published by Phaidon Press Ltd., (2008). It is available in hardback and priced at £35.00.
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