Alex Katz - A Dialogue - The Artist's Studio - MOCAtv

At the pivot point between the abstract expressionism of the 1950s and the pop art of the 1960s is the seminal Alex Katz. For fifty years his largely figurative practice has encompassed painting, printing, and a curious sculptural technique he calls cutouts, in each medium flattening, compressing and cropping a range of appearances, from the social to the pastoral, while brilliantly communicating effervescence and vitality. Seated on a couch in his New York studio, Katz shares inspirations, methodologies, and stories with Kim Heirston, whom he met twenty years ago at the front desk of Robert Miller Gallery. As Heirston recalls, Katz asked her to pose for a portrait "with a dash of cool and a hint of shy," itself an apt description of a body of work that paved the way for a generation of artists to explore the mysteries and properties of the surface. Now, Katz confides, his challenge is to see the world in the present tense, to embrace the challenge of depicting Washington Square Park as a high-definition film set, instead of the rainy, impressionist watercolor of his yesteryear.
Interview by Kim Heirston. Video and sound by Dream Machine Creative (Dylan Steinberg, Daniel Wills, Colin Alexander, Dan Leung). Edited by Nick Vannucci. Thanks to: Alex Katz, Alex Katz Gallery, Kim Heirston, Sophie Hyewon Hong, VAGA, Gavin Brown Enterprises, Lucy Chadwick at Gavin Brown Enterprises. Special thanks to: Vincent Katz and Ada Katz. All art (c) Alex Katz/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY.
Like MOCA on Facebook: bit.ly/MOCAFacebook
Follow MOCA on Twitter: bit.ly/MOCATwitter
+1 MOCA on Google+: bit.ly/MOCAGooglePlus

[@consciouscoma85]

keep up the great work alex. keep healthy and never stop being creative.

[@irenahalder]

His work is full of life and colour. He paints on a large scale so his canvases have a massive impact when you walk into the gallery space. His paintings are refreshing for their absence of detail and clutter. He gets to the point and you can’t mistake what he is expressing.

[@paulinawaas9204]

Beautiful style and color choices!

[@VIncentSunflowers]

85 years old here. Incredible guy.

[@rd264]

Incredible? Why? Its kind of easy pop art to me, a reductionist, flat photographic serio- comic style. He's ok, not especially knowledgeable. He just paints.

[@VIncentSunflowers]

Why would anyone challenge a complete stranger's complimentary remark?

[@claudemontes]

"with a dash of cool and a hint of shy," is the portrait of Kim in this video?

[@christianegonbarnthaler1426]

super art 111

[@cliffdariff74]

90 years now..

[@awildacruzcruz2859]

Alex Katz has a good eye.

[@txicocamotl]

Never imagined Nosferatu was gonna be such a mellow guy.

[@TheArtChannel1]

See Alex Katz at the Serpentine Galleries on The Art Channel kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4eWophvpc6smtk

[@RumbleBones]

“Go flat out.”

[@sachindsouza14]

He looks a lot like Pablo Picasso, Colonial Cousins :) I'd say.. He also had more or less the same mannerisms like Picasso :)

[@zhangchiwang4379]

that doesn’t make him Picasso though…

[@PaintingwithEnrique]

I paint 5 days for 5 hours, for 5 years.

[@ConcretelocJ]

She was feeling him

[@brandonjimenez902]

Printess Berry she's model for him previously 🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆

[@karenkaren1448]

She falls in love with him .

[@simeonbanner6204]

If he wasn't an artist he would be selling cars.

[@davidfoley2715]

You're right, he definitely has the perseverance to be a great success.

[@bunnylou4993]

That burp at 13:14😂

[@oreman3126]

Squidward irl

[@LockedPig]

Katz is highly overrated

[@davidfoley2715]

Everyone must be crazy, huh?

[@blastsucarta1068]

Well at least he's spent a life time making the work vs sitting on the couch being snarky

[@dr.reidsheftalltruthinscie2007]

The whole "series" thing is disgraceful.. Its just a money making scheme. Imagine Leonardo or Michelangelo painting a "series"...

[@davidfoley2715]

Dang, I should probably heed your incredible insight and throw all of my Monet books in the trash....

[@dr.reidsheftalltruthinscie2007]

@@davidfoley2715 Even Mr. Katz said he gets bored doing series. It's a money-making scheme to produce when you run out of ideas, antithetical to creative art. PS Don't throw your Monet books into the trash.. Give them away.

[@davidfoley2715]

@@dr.reidsheftalltruthinscie2007 Hehe, Yeah I'm just taking the bait. I mean, at the root of it, existentially, as a painter one is kind of... in a 'series' always, living out one's assumed role as a painter; in one's assumed technique and choices of subject matter. To abandon painting completely would be one of the most creative things a painter could do to break the serial nature of it :-) On that note, copying one's own pictures outright, repeatedly and exactly, IS a quick way to go insane. Thank god for prints....

[@dr.reidsheftalltruthinscie2007]

@@davidfoley2715 That's a very interesting take on it. I find that doing something completely foreign to me is very useful and leads to some interesting work. look at Picasso, how his work varied so much. He was on to something. Cheers, David!

[@popeyeisgood]

so sad to see trashy art being glorified like this.

[@stefaniross]

you're an idiot.... there's all kinds of art out there.... all appreciated for what it is

[@sanantoniotonight5569]

I second that....double idiot

[@guzzopinc1646]

triple idiot

[@PaintingwithEnrique]

Quad

[@txicocamotl]

So gloryfying to see a sad guy like you being trashed.

[@TheArtChannel1]

See Alex Katz at the Serpentine Galleries on The Art Channel kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4eWophvpc6smtk