An Open Letter to Art Critics

by Art Fag City on October 15, 2008 · 8 comments

Image via: Timeout. Courtesy of The Artist/Gavin Brown’s Enterprise

Dear New York Press,

Stop labeling Elizabeth Peyton’s West 11th Street, Greenwich Avenue, and 7th Avenue, New
York City, 2008 “stunning” and “breathtakingly beautiful“. These are exactly the kind of remarks that fuel the arguments of critics who think her work is over rated. Lacking the emotional quality captured in her best portraits, NYC 2008, is at best a dreary cityscape that falls apart at a distance. In short it’s not a good painting. Otherwise, good job with the Peyton reviews.

Sincerely yours,

Art Fag City


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http://ARTmostfierce.blogspot.com Ruben Natal-San Miguel
I just went to a private tour of Elizabeth Peyton show last night. I liked most of it and saw that pice in particular.They are far more better paintings in the show than West 11 NYC2008.
I do think that her work in overall is very good and had followed her work since 2001 PS 1 Show.
http://ARTmostfierce.blogspot.com Ruben Natal-San Miguel
I just went to a private tour of Elizabeth Peyton show last night. I liked most of it and saw that pice in particular.They are far more better paintings in the show than West 11 NYC2008.
I do think that her work in overall is very good and had followed her work since 2001 PS 1 Show.
valerie
Adequate,with a spoonful of sugar.
valerie
Adequate,with a spoonful of sugar.
trrricky
I didn’t know there was hulabaloo around this painting, but it is one of my favorites. I think it’s very strong, totally works at a distance (A reasonable one, her work spends most its time in private homes)and is a significant place marker in the development of her work. Because of the controversy surrounding St. Vincent’s, time may turn this painting into a memorial portrait of a dead building, revealing a tragic tale much the same as many of her more famous portraits. And what’s wrong with New York being a little dreary every once in a while? This ain’t South Beach! She still uses her ruby lips color on the light post, a saturated yellow for the traffic light. It doesn’t betray her consistency, but it does give us a breather between people sitting on the same couch. If you want to pick on a bad painting in the show, how about that awful single centrally composed tree painting? Ick.
trrricky
I didn’t know there was hulabaloo around this painting, but it is one of my favorites. I think it’s very strong, totally works at a distance (A reasonable one, her work spends most its time in private homes)and is a significant place marker in the development of her work. Because of the controversy surrounding St. Vincent’s, time may turn this painting into a memorial portrait of a dead building, revealing a tragic tale much the same as many of her more famous portraits. And what’s wrong with New York being a little dreary every once in a while? This ain’t South Beach! She still uses her ruby lips color on the light post, a saturated yellow for the traffic light. It doesn’t betray her consistency, but it does give us a breather between people sitting on the same couch. If you want to pick on a bad painting in the show, how about that awful single centrally composed tree painting? Ick.
Art Fag City
Yeah, that single tree painting is awful, but nobody in the press is touting that piece as some kind of masterpiece. We disagree about that painting. At best it’s mediocre. Personally, I think the closer her work is to straight up portraiture the better it is. I’d rather get sick of work she’s reasonable at than look at a bunch of boring painting for a “breather”.
Art Fag City
Yeah, that single tree painting is awful, but nobody in the press is touting that piece as some kind of masterpiece. We disagree about that painting. At best it’s mediocre. Personally, I think the closer her work is to straight up portraiture the better it is. I’d rather get sick of work she’s reasonable at than look at a bunch of boring painting for a “breather”.