Exhibition Information Date:  February 14 - June 14, 2009 Place:  Target Gallery View all associated images View this exhibition in the Walker Calendar
		Image: Elizabeth Peyton, Michelle and Sasha Obama Listening to Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention August 2008 , 2008 Oil on board 14-1/4 x 11-1/4 in. Courtesy the artist and Gavin Brown's enterprise, New York

A vanguard voice in the return to narrative figuration in contemporary painting and a brilliant colorist with a razor-sharp graphic sense, Elizabeth Peyton creates small, jewel-like portraits that capture an artistic zeitgeist using a visual vocabulary that could only have been produced in late 20thcentury urban America. Peyton was among a handful of artists to develop a peculiar hybrid of realism and conceptualism. Although her paintings have clear debts to 19th-century French modernist painting from Gros to Manet, these masters have been processed through an intimate understanding of David Hockney, Alex Katz, and above all, Andy Warhol. Like Warhol, Peyton's art is, at a certain level, at the service of the culture it captures. Her paintings are enormously seductive in form and content, and they frankly flaunt their celebration of the shallow aesthetics of youth, fame, and fashion. They are also testaments to a deeper passion for beauty in all its forms—from the elevated to the banal.

This first comprehensive survey of the artist’s paintings examines Peyton's mature work over the past 15 years. Beginning in 1994 with her small-scale paintings of rock idols like Sid Vicious and Kurt Cobain, the exhibition is organized by series—of individual subjects like well-known contemporary artists and historical figures; motifs, including pose and props; and broad thematic categories such as music and fashion. Like a novel, Peyton's oeuvre can be read in chapters, each of which features portraits of friends, family, personal heroes, and fleeting passions. The exhibition offers a visual biography of the artist while creating a snapshot of the popular culture of the past decade.

A catalogue accompanies the exhibition.

Curator: Laura Hoptman, senior curator, New Museum
Walker Coordinating Curator: Elizabeth Carpenter

Live Forever: Elizabeth Peyton is organized by the New Museum, New York. Banana Republic is the Global Lead Sponsor of the exhibition.

The Walker Art Center’s presentation is sponsored by The Private Client Reserve at U.S. Bank. Additional support is provided by Joan and John Nolan and Donna and Jim Pohlad. Media partner Mpls.St.Paul Magazine.

Hotel partners

	Media Workshop Video Portraits For adults and kids ages 10-14 Tuesday, April 21, 2009   6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
	Family Program People Pictures Free First Saturday Saturday, April 4, 2009   10:00 am to 3:00 pm
	Workshop Identity Portraiture with Wing Young Huie Target Free Thursday Nights Thursday, March 26, 2009   6:00 pm to 9:00 pm
	Family Tour and Workshop Famous Friends For adults and kids ages 10-14 Saturday, March 21, 2009   1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
	Panel Discussion Documenting Culture Target Free Thursday Nights Thursday, March 12, 2009   7:00 pm
	Sound Bites Gallery Tour Contemporary Portraiture Target Free Thursday Nights Thursday, February 26, 2009   6:30 pm
	Opening-Day Talk End of the Century Saturday, February 14, 2009   2:00 pm
	Exhibition Preview Party Walker After Hours/Preview Party Friday, February 13, 2009   9:00 pm to 12:00 am

Wing Young Huie asks us to photograph outside the box for next Thursdays art lab. http://blogs.walkerart.org/ecp/2009/03/18/wing-young-huie-asks-us-to-photograph-outside-the-box-for-next-thursdays-art-lab/ Walker blogs, Education and Community Programs: Community

Raising Creative Kids: Interview with Elizabeth Peyton http://blogs.walkerart.org/ecp/2009/03/31/raising-creative-kids-interview-with-elizabeth-peyton/ Walker blogs, Education and Community Programs: General

Family Photobooth Pics http://blogs.walkerart.org/ecp/2009/04/08/family-photobooth-pics/ Walker blogs, Education and Community Programs: General

The Quick and the Dead nominated for a new and glamorous Art Award http://blogs.walkerart.org/visualarts/2009/09/25/the-quick-and-the-dead-nominated-for-a-new-and-glamorous-art-award/ Walker blogs, Visual Arts: General

Museum Exhibition Title Graphics http://blogs.walkerart.org/design/2009/07/30/museum-exhibition-title-graphics/ Walker blogs, Design: Flat Files

Exhibition Catalogue http://shop.walkerart.org/?ck=PAYWKGHUVD&pk=5ACB1F23AD&CatalogID=229§ion=Product&Details=6388283 The 225-page exhibition catalogue features 175 full-color illustrations and essays by Laura Hoptman, Iwona Blazwick, and John Giorno. $59.95 ($53.96 Walker members).

Exhibition installation images http://flickr.com/photos/walkerart/sets/72157614351133697/

Pictures of People http://blogs.walkerart.org/offcenter/2008/10/09/pictures-of-people/ Walker blogs, Off Center: Exhibitions

Politics affecting art - a little differently this time. http://blogs.walkerart.org/offcenter/2008/11/06/politics-affecting-art-a-little-differently-this-time/ Walker blogs, Off Center: General

Leading ladies: Michelle Obama, Elizabeth Peyton, Olga Viso http://blogs.walkerart.org/offcenter/2008/11/26/leading-ladies-michelle-obama-elizabeth-peyton-olga-viso/ Walker blogs, Off Center: General

The British are coming! Again! http://blogs.walkerart.org/filmvideo/2008/12/22/the-british-are-coming-again/ Walker blogs, Film and Video: Coming soon

A puzzle woven around a person http://blogs.walkerart.org/offcenter/2009/02/10/a-puzzle-woven-around-a-person/ Walker blogs, Off Center: General

Interview with Xavier Tavera http://blogs.walkerart.org/ecp/2009/03/02/interview-with-xavier-tavera/ Walker blogs, Education and Community Programs: General

Art on Call http://newmedia.walkerart.org/aoc/index.wac?cms=4487 Listen to audio related to this exhibition on the phone, online, or subscribe to the podcast.