Elizabeth Peyton

With fifteen modestly sized works, mostly portraits, this exhibition indicates a compelling development in Elizabeth Peyton’s painting practice: an emphasis on reduction and an increased attention to the white priming in each work.

Peyton’s rising star in the 1990s was often attributed to her choice of figures from history, literature, and the contemporary Pop scene. Her work was known for a focus on celebrity and status. Yet such a footnote doesn’t apply to this show. Here, Peyton succeeds in depicting subjects such as German opera singer René Pape and the artist Klara Liden in a light and subtle way, one open to multiple readings. (One wonders if it even matters to know who the portrayed beings are.) More important to Peyton, it appears, is the tender emotional connection between the artist and the depicted figure.

Nevertheless, the real star of this exhibition is white. Peyton begins each work by applying a thick layer of white gesso on board, which she sands to a flat polished surface. On top she paints the scenes in petite, partially transparent marks. The hues are light and get darker and more defined around the contours of the subjects. For instance, in The Lamentation of Christ (After Van Dyck’s The Lamentation of Christ, 17th century), 2014, there is a subtle balance between the Christ figure and the blank spaces in and around the body. The work evokes compassion, both through the scene it depicts and through Peyton’s hesitating, searching brushstrokes.