First, there are its bright flat colors that delight the heart. But there is also its luminous serenity, its sobriety as a matter of course, its love of movements and bodies… The universe of Alex Katz, who, in the 60s, distinguished himself by his figurative style while abstraction was at its peak, strikes by its familiarity as much as by its elegance, its poetic power, its energy, its fluidity…
In the vast nave of the Thaddaeus Ropac gallery, his works resonate, plural, choral. Wandering between these small fragments of the sweetness of life, these sometimes gigantic, sometimes modest creations, provokes intense bursts of joy.
60 years of practice
Between the famous Austrian gallery owner and the New York painter, a dashing young man of 97, trained at the Skowhegan School in Maine, a kind of loyalty has been established, a companionship that has lasted since the end of the 90s. In the end, Ropac has dedicated 22 exhibitions to him, including Mondes flottants in 2021, in Pantin, around the theme of water. Today, the gallery focuses on his 60 years of practice of engraving, inaugurated by one of his masterpieces, Luna Park 1, his first print made with a printing press, in 1965.
Throughout this retrospective, we find themes dear to the master, painter of modern life, great lover of Matisse and precursor of pop art, who made an outdated America glamorous. An aesthetic that he nevertheless approached with a slight shift – portraits of loved ones, sparkling seas, landscapes that look like Japanese prints, play of light on water, cinematographic influences…
An endearing work
But, unlike his paintings created with rapid, syncopated brushstrokes, his engravings, which require a minimum of calculation and intentionality, reveal more “stabilized” works. Conversely, his recurring practice of printing and screen printing has oriented his pictorial creations towards the flat areas of color which forge his signature.
So what makes his work so endearing? His childish, playful and dreamy tenderness? His very particular vision? Didn’t he himself say: “The highest goal of a painter might be to show exactly what he sees.” From his point of view, he creates his world. A universal world that speaks to everyone. Perhaps because it anchors its roots in the abundance of the present time… “Many artists want to paint something timeless… I want to represent the immediate present. And that is precisely what consciousness is,” he said. Hence a certain idea of happiness, disseminated here through the works of one of the major painters of our time.
Alex Katz, 60 years of Printmarking : until July 23, Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery, 69, avenue du Général-Leclerc.
FREE ENTRANCE.
