Elizabeth Peyton

Elizabeth Peyton’s paintings have transformed the genre of portrait painting via a distinctly 21^st century approach to subject matter, celebrity and love. Selecting her subjects from among both her close friends and figures in the public eye, there is democratization in Peyton’s technique that recalls Warhol’s program to rescue portraiture from its elitist past.  Blurring social boundaries, her oeuvre presents a parallel aristocracy equally worthy of depiction, centering on individuals whose lives and actions she deems to be heroic and inspirational.  Among these persons, musicians have become her most referenced subjects.

The present work depicts Evan Dando, the elusive co-founder and lead singer of the alternative rock band, the Lemonheads.  Similar to several of Peyton’s depictions of rock stars such as Kurt Cobain and Liam Gallagher, Evan is depicted intimately, lost in a moment of reflection.  We are struck by the scene’s beauty and the feeling that we have somehow stumbled fortuitously across an informal moment of artistic genius. The gem-like quality of the work’s lustrous surface reinforces the concept of the subject’s brilliance.  As such, we cannot help but notice that we have entered Peyton’s unique universe, “populated by people whose celebrity emanates from their beauty.” (Catherine M. Grant, "Elizabeth Peyton," Grove Art Online, Oxford University Press, October 2006)