Do the names Kate Moss and Anna Wintour ring a bell? If so, then you’ve probably seen the iconic images of them painted by Alex Katz. Katz is an American artist whose work is being displayed in an exhibit titled This Is Now at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia, starting June 21, 2015. The exhibit, which includes more than 40 pieces, spans the artist’s early to contemporary work, with a special emphasis on his landscape pieces.
Born July 24, 1927 in Brooklyn, New York, he attended The Cooper Union and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. He started developing his large scale, pop art-like paintings afterwards. Known for his landscape and portraiture paintings, he has created notable images of several fashion icons including Christy Turlington and the before mentioned. His wife is also featured in a moving painting called “Blue Umbrella #2”. His landscapes are usually devoid of any horizon lines or spacial identifications, forcing the viewer to focus more on the subjects of the paintings themselves. Katz is renowned for his use of bright colors, an early pioneer of the pop art movement, as well as his flat, yet oddly dimensional painting style. Katz has stated that being introduced to painting in plein air while at the Skowhegan School inspired him to move into painting more landscapes, which he has focused on in his more recent works.
This Is Now covers Katz’s work from 1954 to 2013. It places a focus on his more contemporary landscape paintings, featuring 15 works that are being put on view publicly for the first time.
Alex Katz, This Is Now, is on view from June 21 to September 6, 2015 at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia.
