During the preview week of the Venice Biennale Artlyst was privileged to attend a conversation between Peter Doig, the Turner Prize nominated artist and Sir Nicholas Serota, Director of the Tate. The talk took place in front of Doig’s new paintings at the beautiful historic rooms of the Palazzetto Tito (until October 4th 2015). The exhibition – curated by Milovan Farronato – is truly spectacular.
Through more than thirty years of painting, Peter Doig has earned a reputation as one of the most gifted artists of his generation. He is a sophisticated visual thinker with an uncanny sensitivity to the material possibilities and evocative qualities of paint. The artist’s pictures are among the most resonant images in contemporary art.
The work was installed in the beautiful historic rooms of the Palazzetto Tito, where the artist presents large paintings and several intimately scaled works, all of them new and being shown for the first time. The imagery in the new works is diverse, drawing on private and found visual sources. The artist works in an intuitive non-prescribed manner, allowing works to naturally evolve and surprise. Although the concept of motif weaves in and out of Doig’s work, artworks are never conceived of in series or as projects. The artist’s willingness to embrace his personal visual history as well as the broader canon of painting contributes to the mysterious beauty and quiet intensity of his oeuvre.
Words P C Robinson, Audio: Peter Doig and Sir Nicholas Serota, Photo P C Robinson © Artlyst 2015
Peter Doig: Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa Palazetto Tito Dorsodure 2826, Venice – until 4th October