London
“The Painting of Modern Life”
Hayward Gallery
Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road
October 4–December 30, 2007
Castello di Rivoli
Piazza Mafalda di Savoia
February 4–May 4, 2008
Curated by Ralph Rugoff
In his debut show as the Hayward’s director, Ralph Rugoff eschews the small, quirky delights he is known for in favor of a broader brush. “The Painting of Modern Life” brings together approximately a hundred paintings that use photographs as their starting point—highlighting a prevalent strategy for picture making over the past forty-five years. The show kicks off with high-fidelity favorites such as Andy Warhol and Gerhard Richter but also features younger artists such as Elizabeth Peyton and Wilhelm Sasnal, who evidence other, less faithful marriages of source and product. Photographic painting may be the target of much recent complaint, but it is not monolithic, as this show should make abundantly clear. Travels to the Castello di Rivoli, Turin, Italy, Feb. 4–May 4, 2008.