Secret Life is a retrospective view of Jonathan Horowitz and Elizabeth Peyton’s exhibition at Sadie Coles HQ, London, in the summer of 2012. It was a unique project; the two artists juxtaposed their distinct practises while also collaborating on joint works for the first time. The show explored the themes of flowers and plants through painting, print, drawing, sculpture and photography, whilst delving into the history of floral symbolism in art and literature.

 

With over 30 illustrations and a conversation between the artists, Secret Life explore how both artists were inspired by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird’s book The Secret Life of Plants (1973) as well as the writings of Sigmund Freud and the Victorian era anonymous sex diary My Secret Life. Freud was a significant point of return for Peyton; while Horowitz’s works included a series of paintings of plants whose grisaille schemes look back at Gordon Willis in Woody Allen’s film, Interiors (1978).