Elizabeth Peyton at the New Museum:
I love Peyton's painterly portraits of 90s rock stars. Walking through the exhibit at the New Museum I had so much fun trying to guess which androgynous face belonged to which indie persona with my friend Andrew, especially because he had no idea who anyone was, which set me up as the guardian of knowledge. The facial characteristics in each portrait take on similar attributes which surprisingly resemble Peyton herself. The faces are sharp, pointed and translucent. There is a beautiful melancholy expression to each character, although I could have just wanted to see the vacant faces as introspective, wounded warriors of the pop culture struggle for depth and identity in a superficial world. Were Sid Vicious and Kurt Cobain contemporary prophets or lost drug addicts that have been mystified by youth culture's want for meaning? Well, Peyton's water colors, thin acrylics, and color pencil depictions are quite pretty whatever the intended reflection may have been, and its also quite a throw back to 90s indie rock. I am listening to Pulp as I write this and I must admit the show made me smile.
No comments:
Post a Comment