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1990

Forest

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1992

“W

hat many regard as su-

perficial, for me it is ac-

tual and positive”, says

the Russian artist, born in

Brooklyn, Alex Katz, who

has managed to make his artwork into a certain sym-

bol of a richandbohemian class, on the premise of their

taste for glamour. His featured large format portraits

(beingcutouts–cut andpaintedfigures—hismaincon-

tributions), his implementationof neuter backgrounds,

his bets on abstractions and his use of billboards have

built abridgebetweenart, advertisingand fashion.

His portraits break out of the psychological inter-

pretation and very anecdotal character, by offering

an iconic proposal, free from those not indispensable

elements; and that is why his paintings are used to

represent people close to him: relatives and friends;

but, above all, landscapes especially from Maine. “I

like Maine’s light very much; it is different from New

York’s. Ever since the first time I went over there, I de-

cided wouldn’t want to cease seeing it for the rest of

my life.” He is also used to casting characters from the

cultural lifeof the60sand70s includingartistssuchas:

Rudy Burckhardt, Al Held, Brice Marden, Ted Berrigan,

Thomas Disch andWilliams Dunas; Katz delivers to his

creations a coldobjectivity and a seductive elegance; in

general, inhis style, dramatic close-ups and expressive

colors are abundant; the images he produces are neat,

cleanandnice.