To much acclaim, PaceWildenstein mounted Alex Katz: Twelve Paintings, a show of two large landscapes and ten portraits of "power women" dressed and selected through a collaboration between Katz and stylist Lori Goldstein of W Magazine.
Well Dog My Katz!
By Barbara Rosenthal
Alex Katz, Martha. (Martha Stewart in Jil Sander Shirt and Hermes Sweater. Styling by Lori Goldstein.) Courtesy PaceWildenstein.
High Art in a Low Age (and Visa Versa) or Why Twelve Paintings Isn’t The Night Watch
To much acclaim, PaceWildenstein mounted Alex Katz: Twelve Paintings, a show of two large landscapes and ten portraits of "power women" dressed and selected through a collaboration between Katz and stylist Lori Goldstein of W Magazine. The portraits were painted on commission for the magazine to serve as originals from which a spread containing the names of the women and clothing designers would appear in the October issue. This past Spring, MoMA QNS mounted Fashion in Photography, which exhibited work created for clothing companies by artist-photographers.
About the W collaboration, Goldstein affectionately chides Katz in print as if he were a fond puppy who innocently chewed her slippers: "Alex was partial to black and we were trying to pull him away from that." And, reported David Cohen in the Sept 9 NY Sun, "W wanted to include women with larger personal following than the artists he painted — who included Cindy Sherman, Kiki Smith, and Mariko Mori — so they sent him Martha Stewart and [pop singer Alicia] Keys." That is to say, W beefed up Katz’s cast with subjects of greater value for the purpose of promoting the apparel.
Leaving aside the color schemes, and the magazine’s production values which caused Katz’s signature ochre-peach skin tones to be printed sickly yellows, and Pace’s decision to include the large, delicate landscapes entirely inspired by Katz’s own self, leaves the subject the value of Katz himself to that promotion.
What is valuable about using a real artist instead of just a commercial illustrator? (And about printing the spread under the heading "Portfolio.") Just what is inherently valuable about Art? Art is valuable because it is a transmission from an artist’s soul of an unadulterated, undiluted worldview. Style is not enough. It was not just Katz’s refined style W wanted to capitalize on, it was the power of his soul (and acclaim) as an artist. But the honor of the appellation "artist" belongs to the individual who has the inspiration for a work. One who manufactures commodities to the specification of others is, at best, a craftsperson.
There is no shame in an artist taking a commission or earning a living, as long as we admit that the soul-value, or authenticity, of the product will be proportional to that artist’s input. It was Rembrandt’s manifested conviction that raised the value of The Night Watch. For highest soul-value, perhaps, collectors and image-purchasers might consider work that artists produce collaborating privately with their own muses, and artists might consider not being so quick to fill orders with work not yet produced.
"Alex Katz: Twelve Paintings"
PaceWildenstein Gallery 534 W. 25 St.
