Guggenheim Presents "Alex Katz: Gathering"

When the High Museum of Art presented 60 works by Alex Katz in 2015, I learned and wrote about how the artist captures "quick things passing" as part of his craft. 

Borrowing lyrics from the Olympic anthem "One Moment in Time," Katz succeeds in enabling viewers of his works to "feel eternity" in frozen family memories, knowing glances of friends, still scenes from nature or portraits of his muse and wife, Ada, depicted 1,000+ times since they met and married in 1957.

So, when summer news reports emerged announcing the Guggenheim would present a "career retrospective" in the Frank Lloyd Wright rotunda, I marked my calendar for an autumn return to Manhattan for the potential assemblage of "must see masterpieces." 

Of course, curiosity piqued while wondering whether Katz's 1976 work "Olympic Swimmer" might appear (as it was absent at the High).

Though this five-ringed work is not presented in "Alex Katz: Gathering" on view through Feb. 20, there are dozens of other gorgeous and thoughtful canvases -- including some aquatic depictions -- as well as cutouts, collages and sketches that easily justified the special journey to Manhattan in November. 

Sadly, life and procrastination brought me to this point of posting a review just days before the exhibition closes, much later than intended when the museum press office kindly provided a media ticket for access.

If you are fortunate to be in or near the Upper East Side area through Monday, this gathering is well worth a visit. 

Though the works are presented chronologically for Guggenheim visitors to experience while ascending the iconic atrium ramp, once my ticket was scanned, I made a bee line to the elevator to enjoy the works top down. 

In my two-hour descent starting with the artist's most recent works, I enjoyed piecing together relevance to earlier works then affirming some hunches via the wall texts. 

Over here, an assortment of portraits. 

Over there, a docent trying her darndest to keep some third graders' attention on a backyard scene. 

New to my eyes and Katz awareness: the artist's many two-sided cutouts, sometimes life-sized, others as solo or grouped busts. A couple of the five-foot cutouts featuring a man and woman in 1970s attire were positioned as though chatting along the ramp's circular rail, while another cutout of a man seemed to be strolling toward a nearby painting.

While studying several works for a few minutes each, no singular Katz consistently stopped people in their tracks more that the large 1980 canvas titled "Song" featuring a trio of musicians at a piano, as well as "Cocktail Party" featuring an urban soiree of 1965. 

The exhibit also featured oversized flowers and dynamic portraits that resonated with this writer and Katz fan. I simply love his shoreline paintings depicting sunshine or moonlight dancing on the waters of their foregrounds. The eyes of his portraits always captivate my gaze as well. 

Indicative of the show's popularity in its early weeks, the museum was out of exhibition catalogues. Exiting through the gift shop empty-handed was OK, however, given the enrichment secured while viewing so many of the nonagenarian's works in one place. 

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver

This Is Now: Alex Katz Out of the Bag

The artist Alex Katz is mostly new to me.

When the High Museum of Art announced the summer exhibition "Alex Katz, This Is Now" would arrive in Atlanta this summer, my shoulders shrugged while asking, "Who?"

But during an afternoon with 60 works by the American painter, sculptor and printmaker, I can tell already tell that, though a new addition, Katz will remain on my "favorite artists" list for many years. What a great surprise!

Certainly my eyes previously spotted his works, starting with a view of "Wrecks 2" in the High's permanent collection, another dog feature at the Milwaukee Art Museum, and during visits to the Chicago Art Institute, MoMA and Tate. I also noted Katz painting cameos on the silver screen (example: Ben Affleck's law firm office in "Switching Lanes" tees up a "beach girl" monologue).

But the artist's name didn't stick.

The tipping point arrived while standing beside several enormous canvases -- with billboard measurements in some cases -- mounted at the High. In a word, fantastic.

Size and scale are part of why I didn't previously "get it" with regards to Katz. Looking at his monumental works on a small screen or in a book does not do the art justice.

The current exhibition focus is on landscapes painted by Katz, with a handful of portraits or small studies for larger works also on view.

While I enjoyed many of the outdoor scenes -- forests silhouetted by sunsets, wide views of lakeside residences, seashore landscapes and a few florals -- the exhibition left me craving more Katz close-ups of people engaged in thought, everyday activity or gazing at museum guests.

The exhibition begins with the 72" x 96" oil on linen "Good Afternoon" featuring a woman paddling a canoe toward the viewer. "Welcome to the exhibition" wall text is flanked by several small watercolored paper items, and a summer picnic scene eases visitors into the larger galleries.

I was most impressed with two canvases -- "January 3" and "January 4" -- featuring Katz's wife dressed for a 78" x 155" winter walk in the park. Around the corner from their wall space, the High presents an abbreviated version of the documentary film "Five Hours" in a side gallery of the exhibition. When recorded in 1996, the film captured Katz's in-studio craft and the creation of "January" for posterity.

See if you agree the film's laughter-infused soundtrack comes across as the artist's inner monologue while at work (more than one fellow-patron chuckled with my assessment Katz may be laughing his way to the bank).

The large floral canvases featuring white and red roses are beautiful but, for this writer, not as moving as, say, Georgia O'Keeffe blossoms. Something about their flatness does not resonate for me the way Katz's "Blue Umbrella 2" brought an immediate, nicely intimate viewer:subject connection (to the extent that a 96" x 144" canvas may be considered 'intimate.').

The works in the later galleries sort of left me hanging. But the exhibition inspired a hunger for more information about Katz and post-visit study of the exhibition catalog. This research also yielded a Katz wish list of works I will seek out in the future.

One such work is a Games-inspired 1976 serigraph titled "Olympic Swimmer" which appears to be available via several auctions and galleries. You, too, could own 1 of 200 copies for $2,000 to $4,500.

And while waiting for a few reserved library books to arrive for more reading, I'll ponder the notion that "Katz spotting" will be a favorite pastime at future museum visits.

According to the High website, "Katz described his goal as the pursuit of capturing 'quick things passing' in his work. Katz's monumental landscape paintings are executed in what is now considered a signature style characterized by flattened planes of color, shallow pictorial space, and lean, reductive but acutely descriptive lines. In them, Katz seeks to convey the appearance of things as they are both felt and perceived in the 'present tense,' the now."

Fleeting moments of daily life for people captivated me. Fleeting moments of sunset in the woods, though gorgeous, didn't arrest my attention the same way.

No matter. For landscape, portrait or "other" art lovers in Atlanta, now is the time to get to know Katz.
    
Photos by Nicholas Wolaver; "Olympic Swimmer" via this link.