Alex Katz
Alex Katz was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1927. In 1946, Katz entered The Cooper Union Art School in Manhattan, a prestigious college of art, architecture, and engineering. There he was trained in Modern art theories and techniques. Upon graduating in 1949, Katz attended the Skowhegan School for Painting and Sculpture in Maine. As he grew, Katz moved towards greater realism in his paintings. He became increasingly interested in portraiture, and painted his friends and family. He embraced monochrome backgrounds, which would become a defining characteristic of his style, anticipating Pop Art and separating him from gestural figure painters and the New Perceptual Realism. Katz also began to experiment with landscape as his skills progressed. Alex Katz's work has been the subject of more than 200 solo exhibitions and nearly 500 group exhibitions internationally since 1951. He now works at an artists’ cooperative building in SoHo, New York City (of course).
Katz's paintings have been described as flat, elegant, and realistic. A maverick from the beginning, Katz came of age when Abstract Expressionism still reigned, yet he turned to painting landscapes and the human figure. Over time, his paintings got bigger. Taking cues from Cinemascope movies and billboards, his highly stylized pictures also anticipated Pop Art. His deadpan evocation of flat, bright figures had an everyday quality that linked them to commercial art and popular culture. Even though Katz is now in his eighties, he still paints like a boss and his works are still in high demand.
Alex Katz was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1927. In 1946, Katz entered The Cooper Union Art School in Manhattan, a prestigious college of art, architecture, and engineering. There he was trained in Modern art theories and techniques. Upon graduating in 1949, Katz attended the Skowhegan School for Painting and Sculpture in Maine. As he grew, Katz moved towards greater realism in his paintings. He became increasingly interested in portraiture, and painted his friends and family. He embraced monochrome backgrounds, which would become a defining characteristic of his style, anticipating Pop Art and separating him from gestural figure painters and the New Perceptual Realism. Katz also began to experiment with landscape as his skills progressed. Alex Katz's work has been the subject of more than 200 solo exhibitions and nearly 500 group exhibitions internationally since 1951. He now works at an artists’ cooperative building in SoHo, New York City (of course).
Katz's paintings have been described as flat, elegant, and realistic. A maverick from the beginning, Katz came of age when Abstract Expressionism still reigned, yet he turned to painting landscapes and the human figure. Over time, his paintings got bigger. Taking cues from Cinemascope movies and billboards, his highly stylized pictures also anticipated Pop Art. His deadpan evocation of flat, bright figures had an everyday quality that linked them to commercial art and popular culture. Even though Katz is now in his eighties, he still paints like a boss and his works are still in high demand.
My Hero
Dr. Patricia Mercer Hutchens has been painting since college. She studied at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois; and Wheaton College, Illinois. Since then she has taught at Northwestern University, Wheaton College, George Mason University, Lord Fairfax College and Northern Virginia Community College, as well as the Corcoran College of Art and Design. Her specialty is painting and constructed art works. Parallel with this concentration in visual arts has been a passion for the origins of communication and symbols, which resulted in completion of a PhD in Theology with a concentration in Hebrew, and publishing a book, “Hebrew for the Goyim.”
For some years Pat's primary genre has incorporated large sculpted vehicles (mixed media, approximately 5’ x 5’) as the means of expression for her work and ideas. More recently, however, she has been working on a series of historical paintings of Northern Virginia, as well as a series related to the Auschwitz/Berkenau concentration camps.
Pat also started Washington Artworks in 1982, concentrating on fostering visual arts and supporting worthy causes in the Metro area and elsewhere, with donated art works of her own and from students and colleagues.
For some years Pat's primary genre has incorporated large sculpted vehicles (mixed media, approximately 5’ x 5’) as the means of expression for her work and ideas. More recently, however, she has been working on a series of historical paintings of Northern Virginia, as well as a series related to the Auschwitz/Berkenau concentration camps.
Pat also started Washington Artworks in 1982, concentrating on fostering visual arts and supporting worthy causes in the Metro area and elsewhere, with donated art works of her own and from students and colleagues.
Pat is also is my adopted granny, friend, and teacher for two years. Her works have been my inspiration and her words have been my encouragement for years. I remember the first time she taught me how to paint in oils when I was thirteen. She set up a still life for me and my cousin and let us use her own paints, checking on our work every so often to give a brush stroke here, or a thought there. She is kind and wise, and has always been so generous with her supplies, providing me with the kind of materials I could never afford on my own. Pat is currently battling brain cancer, but her faith and spirit are the same as they have always been. She continues to be my art hero, and always will be. I wanted to finish my blog with her because of all the artists in the world, I gotta say... she's the best.
Forgive my sentimentality.... but, I love you Granny!!!
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