MEDIA ADVISORY

Media only:
Megan Krefting 202-633-0271; kreftingm@si.edu

 

Media website:

 

May 6, 2015

WHAT:
Media breakfast and artist talk for new exhibition “Peacock Room REMIX: Darren Waterston’s ‘Filthy Lucre,’” opening May 16

 

WHEN:
Tuesday, May 12; 9:30 a.m.–noon
9:30 a.m.:        Light breakfast
10 a.m.:           Artist talk begins
10:30 a.m.:      Exhibition tours
11 a.m.–noon: Exhibition remains open for Q&A, filming and interviews until noon

 

WHERE:
Smithsonian’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
1050 Independence Ave. S.W.
Enter through the Enid A. Haupt Garden

 

WHO:
Julian Raby, The Dame Jillian Sackler Director of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the Freer Gallery of Art
Lee Glazer, curator of American art, Freer and Sackler galleries
Darren Waterston, New York City-based American painter and installation artist

 

“Filthy Lucre,” an immersive interior by painter Darren Waterston, reimagines James McNeill Whistler’s famed Peacock Room, a sumptuous 19th-century dining room, as a magnificent ruin, overburdened with its own materials, creativity and tortured history. Opening May 16 at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, the room is the centerpiece of “Peacock Room REMIX,” an exhibition that probes both the personal and historical drama behind one of the greatest masterpieces of American art.

In “Filthy Lucre,” a near life-size recreation of Whistler’s aesthetic masterpiece, Waterston transforms almost every detail with images of decay, excess and natural phenomena. A soundscape by the band BETTY haunts the space.
The exhibition is the only chance for visitors to experience Waterston’s creation alongside the original Peacock Room, which is a permanent showpiece of the adjacent Freer Gallery of Art.

Media should RSVP to pressasia@si.edu and notify staff in advance of any recording and filming needs. Requests for one-on-one interviews must be made in advance with the museum’s press office.