Alex Katz’s signature style is emphasizing uncomplicated subjects on monochromatic backgrounds – a trademark that is exhibited in his iconic work called “Ada with Coffee”
New York artist Alex Katz is known for his boldly simplified flat “sculptures”, paintings and prints. Katz has his own distinctive style, which isn’t necessarily affiliated with any art movement. Katz’s monochromatic backgrounds and uncomplicated subject are world-renowned. His unique technique has both formal and representational characteristics, which create an interesting dichotomy. Katz’s practice is about surface, creating smooth, colorful and timeless representations of figures and landscapes. Katz’s most iconic subject is “Ada”, his wife and muse. The artist’s friends and loved ones are often the subject of his work; every one of them is transformed into an enthralling icon. “Ada” has even been said to be “more icon than flesh”.
Ada with coffee is a unique and evocative polychromed freestanding double-sided cutout sculpture of a cropped figure painted on an aluminum plate. “Cropping” is one of the signature characteristics of Katz’s work across all mediums. For example, his piece entitled Orange Hat, illustrates the artist’s “cropping” technique. Inspired by commercial art and illustration, Katz’s flat “sculpture” of Ada with coffee differs to a commercial add. The intimate becomes generalized when the artist takes a personal and private subject, such as his wife drinking her morning coffee, and transforms it into a billboard like advertisement. Ada with coffee was created in 1970 and is thought to be one of the most outstanding representations of the artist’s most iconic subject.
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Alex Katz’s work is spread out over some one hundred Art Collections worldwide including; The Museum of Modern Art in New York, The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, The Tate Gallery and The Nationalgalerie in Germany, The French National Collection, The Israel Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in Japan and many others.
Katz is currently exhibiting his, “New Landscapes” in Paris at the Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery until October 15th, and his upcoming solo exhibition of “Small Paintings and Drawing, 1990-2016” will be shown in Milan at the Galleria Monica de Cardenas from September 27th to November 12th, 2016.
Ada with coffee, among other works by Katz, can be viewed at Robin Rosenberg Fine Art, by appointment. For more information, please call 514 885-2100 or send us an email.
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