Elizabeth Peyton at Gavin Brown's Enterprise

Last week Elizabeth Peyton's new show opened at Gavin Brown's Enterprise. Continuing the artist's tradition in pop portraiture, the paintings feature a variety of known and unknown faces, ranging from a contemplative Leonardo DiCaprio to the Obamas embracing in a tender kiss. Having been a longtime fan of Peyton's work since I first laid eyes on her sensual paintings of Pete Doherty and Carl Barat, I was certainly looking forward to seeing some of her new stuff.

The show starts with washed out, minimal portraits of young boys, and builds its way up to portraits of handsomely dressed older men. Additionally, small oil and watercolor paintings of lovers being intimate hang on the gallery walls. Imperfect details, like the colored pencil smudged in the corners of the artist's sketches, make her colorful, simultaneously abstract and realist pieces both inviting and accessible. By and large, Peyton's exhibitions have a unique way of making you feel like you are not in a gallery, but at a close friend's apartment decorated with paintings of your own friends––which is why I suggest stopping by Gavin Brown's with a close friend or significant other.

Through May 14th, 2013.

GAVIN BROWN'S ENTERPRISE
620 Greenwich St
New York, NY 10014
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