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VIVIEN BITTENCOURT THE ART NEWSPAPER ART BASEL/MIAMI BEACH DAILY EDITION 4 DECEMBER 2008 15 Listings Miami Alex Katz in his studio <strong>The</strong> sensation of seeing From small sketches of live situations to speed painting Alex Katz is one of America’s leading painters. His work has been the subject of nearly 200 solo exhibitions since 1954. His portraits and landscapes capture American life in a flat, elegant and realistic style all his own. Now 81, Katz is receiving increased attention with solo exhibitions in Milan, Paris, Finland, Grenoble and New York in 2009. He was honoured on 2 December in Miami by NetJets at their private collectors party. Those previously honoured include Richard Prince and Jaume Plensa. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Newspaper</strong>: Your work has received attention lately, especially from European collectors and museums. What do you think accounts for this renewed interest? Alex Katz: My work is relevant to what’s going on in European art today, where there’s been a return to painting. TAN: Private Domain [1969] sold in the range of $1m at <strong>Art</strong> Basel in Switzerland last year. Did you ever think your work could sell for this amount? AK: No, I didn’t go into painting to make money or to become famous. My first six shows were commercial flops, but artists <strong>start</strong>ed to buy my work, so I felt more <strong>secure</strong>. TAN: You began painting in a hard-edge style in the mid-1950s, when artists like Jackson Pollock and Franz Kline were producing abstract expressionist work. What made you want to defy the trend? AK: I was painting the sensations of looking at people and nature, and I thought it was possible to paint something new that was realistic. TAN: Were you consciously attempting to paint in a post-abstract way? AK: Oh yeah, definitely. I was reacting against abstract art, but I used the scale and grammar from the abstract painters. I thought they were terrific. TAN: Would you say your painting is more influenced by traditional portraiture than commercial art? AK: Yes, it’s more traditional, but I’ve been influenced by billboards and advertising. I think my paintings are definitely traditional. TAN: Are there any portrait artists who have influenced your work? AK: <strong>The</strong> Egyptian sculptor Thutmose captures the style I want to convey with his portrait of Nefertiti; I think he’s totally fabulous. I also like the Japanese artist Utamaro, Matthew Brady’s photographs, Goya and Velázquez. TAN: How do you work? From photographs, live models or memory? AK: I paint small sketches from live situations, which I enlarge. In the early 1950s I used photographs because I liked their flatness, but by the late 50s I <strong>start</strong>ed painting from life. In the 70s and 80s, if I saw a photo I liked I’d get people to pose in those same positions. TAN: It’s well known that you paint quickly. How does speed influence your work? AK: I try to get in the immediate present and to paint the sensation of what I see. <strong>The</strong> preparation process can take months, but the actual painting can take six hours. Speed allows me to enter into the world of my unconscious, and I’m flying when I’m there. TAN: Why is it important for you to rid your pictures of humanistic and psychological content? AK: All that stuff is past tense; I’m trying to get into the present. Humanistic stuff is heavy baggage. I’m trying to paint what I’m looking at. It’s optical. I’m trying to define what I see. It’s much more of an intellectual challenge. Charmaine Picard Galleries showing Alex Katz in ABMB: Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago (J10); Jablonka Galerie, Cologne (F8); PaceWildenstein, New York (H10); Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg (E7) Upcoming exhibitions: Galleria Monica de Cardenas, via Francesco Viganò, 4, Milan, until 31 January 2009 Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, 7 Rue Debelleyme, Paris, 14 January- 14 February 2009 “Alex Katz: Seeing, Drawing, Making”, <strong>The</strong> Gallery at Windsor, Vero Beach, 6 December-20 April 2009, travels to the Parrish <strong>Art</strong> Museum, Southampton, 7 February-12 April 2010 Sara Hildén <strong>Art</strong> Museum, Tampere, Finland, 13 February-3 May 2009, travels to the Musée Grenoble, France, 4 July-29 September 2009, Museum Kurhaus Kleve, Germany, 26 October 2009-7 February 2010 PaceWildenstein, New York, 8 May-6 June 2009 Non-commercial <strong>Art</strong>Center/ South Florida 800 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach www.artcentersf.org Kaiju Monster Invasion: Miami Beach Until 4 January Bakehouse <strong>Art</strong> Complex 561 NW 32nd Street, Miami www.bacfl.org Paraphernalia 4 December-25 January Bass Museum of <strong>Art</strong> 2121 Park Avenue, Miami Beach www.bassmuseum.org Russian Dreams 4 December-8 February Boca Raton Museum of <strong>Art</strong> 501 Plaza Real, Boca Raton www.bocamuseum.org American Modernism 1920-50 Until 8 March Visiones: 20th-Century Selections from the Nassau County Museum of <strong>Art</strong> Until 7 December José Clemente Orozco: the Graphic Work Until 7 December Color Me New York: Photographs by Benn Mitchell Until 18 January Cartier Dome Miami Beach Botanical Garden, 2000 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach www.fondation.cartier.com David Lynch: Diamonds, Gold and Dreams Until 7 December Center For Visual Communication 541 NW 27th Street, Miami www.visual.org Rauschenberg in Series: a 30-Year Retrospective 1978-2008 Until 31 January Cisneros Fontanals <strong>Art</strong> Foundation 1018 North Miami Avenue, Miami www.cifo.org <strong>The</strong> Prisoner’s Dilemma: Selections from the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection Until 1 March Freedom Tower 600 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami Fondazione Ambrosiana: Leonardo Da Vinci, Tiziano Vecellio, Albrecht Dürer and Giovanni Ambrogio De Predis Until 17 December Frost <strong>Art</strong> Museum Florida International University, SW 107 Avenue & Eighth Street, Miami http://thefrost.fiu.edu Modern Masters from the Smithsonian WWW.THEARTNEWSPAPER.TV American <strong>Art</strong> Museum Until 1 March Simulacra and Essence: the Paintings of Luisa Basnuevo Until 4 April Florencio Gelabert: Intersections Until 28 February John Henry: Drawing in Space, the Peninsula Project Illustrated Until 9 March Locust Projects 105 NW 23rd Street, Miami www.locustprojects.org Inevitable Continuum: 10 Years of Locust Projects, curated by Gean Moreno and Claire Breukel Until 31 December Lowe <strong>Art</strong> Museum University of Miami, 1301 Stanford Drive, Miami www.miami.edu/lowe Charles Biederman: an American Idealist Until 18 January Margulies Collection at the Warehouse 591 NW 27th Street, Miami www.margulieswarehouse.com Magdalena Abakanowicz: Hurma 1994-95 Until 25 April Isaac Julien: Western Union, Small Boats, 2007 Until 25 April Oil Rich Niger Delta by George Osodi Until 25 April Photography and Sculpture: a Correlated Exhibition Until 25 April Miami <strong>Art</strong> Museum 101 West Flagler Street, Miami www.miamiartmuseum.org MAC@MAM Presents Chantal Akerman: Moving Through Time and Space Until 25 January Yinka Shonibare, MBE: a Flying Machine for Every Man, Woman and Child Until 18 January Objects of Value Until 21 February Museum of Contemporary <strong>Art</strong> 770 NE 125th Street, Miami www.mocanomi.org Anri Sala: Purchase Not by Moonlight Until 21 March Moca at Goldman Warehouse 404 NW 26th Street, Miami www.mocanomi.org <strong>The</strong> Possibility of an Island 4 December-21 March Rubell Family Collection 95 NW 29th Street, Miami www.rubellfamilycollection.com 30 Americans Until 30 May Sagamore <strong>Art</strong> Hotel Sagamore Video Garden, South Beach between Lincoln Road and 17th Street www.sagamorehotel.com • <strong>The</strong> new online channel for the art world, bringing you interviews with collectors,curators, dealers and artists, and reportage from the art market. • <strong>Art</strong> world intelligence – broadcast direct to your desktop. Screening interviews with key art figures including Frieze directors, Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotover; dealers Max Wigram, Nicholas Logsdail and Daniella Luxembourg; and Italian, Geneva-based collector of contemporary African art Jean Pigozzi; as well as artists, Jonathan Yeo and Jason Martin. “We have always insisted on going to primary sources for our stories in the print edition and the online channel will maintain these standards. First-hand comment from experts in their respective fields will be the hallmark of our interviews" Anna Somers Cocks, founder of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Newspaper</strong> <strong>Art</strong> world intelligence via web TV! Olaf Breuning Until 7 December Spanish Cultural Center 800 Douglas Road, Suite 170, Coral Gables www.ccemiami.org ¡Mujeres al Proyecto! Spanish Designers for the Habitat: <strong>Art</strong> and Industrial Design Until 18 December <strong>The</strong> Station Midblock East, 3250 NE 1st Avenue/Midtown Boulevard, Miami www.thestationmiami.org <strong>The</strong> Station 2008 Until 7 December Wolfsonian Florida International University, 1001 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach www.wolfsonian.fiu.edu Democrazy: an Installation by Francesco Vezzoli Until 7 December Thoughts on Democracy Until 7 December American Streamlined Design: the World of Tomorrow Until 17 May World Class Boxing 170 NW 23rd Street, Miami www.worldclassboxing.org Carla Klein: Untitled 2005-08 Until January Zoe Strauss: Works in Progress Until January Commercial Abba Fine <strong>Art</strong> 233 NW 36th Street, Wynwood, Miami www.abbafineart.com Fusion: Group Show Until 8 January Adamar Fine <strong>Art</strong> 4141 NE 2nd Avenue, Suite 107, Miami www.popnart.com Andy Warhol, <strong>The</strong>n and Now: Works by Andy Warhol, Photographs by William John Kennedy Until 3 January Alejandra von Hartz Gallery 2630 NW 2nd Avenue, Miami Pablo Siquier Until 31 January Al Sabah <strong>Art</strong> & Design Collection NE 39th Street and 1st Court, Miami Design District www.alsabahcollection.com Al Sabah Collection Dubai Gallery Preview Until 7 December Altreforme 4141 Building, 4141 NE 2nd Avenue, Design District www.altreforme.com Launch of Altreforme and Aziz Sariyer Collection Until 6 December
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