Alex Katz. Black Dress

About

New York/Nuremberg. American Artist Alex Katz published a new portfolio called „Black Dress“. It’s a portfolio of nine silkscreens on paper, each showing different women in a black dress. Each is signed and numbered and has a size of 203 x 76,2 cm / 80 x 30 inches. The Edition is 35 pieces only. The exhibition „Alex Katz – Black Dress“ opens at Gallery Fluegel-Roncak first time in Germany on October 30th 2015.

As many of Katz’s print projects his newest work is also based on former paintings. The “Black Dress” project was first completed as a series of paintings done on door panels, depicting standing women in the classic fashion design. The exhibition is centered around this new suite, consisting of nine original screen prints each rendered at a monumental size of 80 x 30 inches, which mimic the size of the paintings. Each one is screen printed in 25 to 35 colors and follows Katz’s signature style of exploring portraiture and monochromatic elements. The first painting on that theme was, „The black dress“ from 1960. This work, which is now located in the Sammlung Brandhorst in Munich, is for sure considerable and was created at a point of time, when several Pop Art Artists checked out the principle of serialism simultaneously. 

The fact, that Alex Katz captured the issue of the little black dress again impressed fashion designer Calvin Klein, so he spontaneously agreed to write the foreword for the catalogue: 

„I also love what a simple black dress says about the woman who wears it. By making such a subtle and concise choice, she’s letting the world know she is strong and her sense of self is powerful. [...] She doesn’t expect to have all eyes on her, although, probably, if she carries herself proudly, she will. And that’s just the most modern and wonderful attitude anyone can have.?? Alex Katz’s Black Dress series is just as modern and wonderful. And, ironically, it has absolutely nothing to do with fashion. His portraits have such strong color fields and clean lines. And despite their apparent simplicity, they’re extremely expressive and perfectly capture the essence of his subjects. You can’t help but notice these women [...].“

Alex Katz turned 88 on July 24th 2015. His auction record so far is 690.000 US$ for a painting. The Black Dress edition is very small with 35 copies only and might become an important masterpiece of his career like the Marilyn Monroe Portfolio by Andy Warhol in 1967.

Galerie Fluegel-Roncak in Nuremberg is focused on high quality works by Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Roy Lichtenstein, Julian Opie, James Rosenquist, Alex Katz, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Tracey Emin, Heiner Meyer, Ed Ruscha or Mel Ramos. We also have pieces by Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Gerhard Richter, Basquiat and many others. Street Art is represented by XOOOOX, Mr. Brainwash, Crash and Bambi.
The gallery was founded in 1999. After moving within Nuremberg the exhibition space is at the current adress on two floors since 2008. Changing solo shows expose different positions of our gallery program. Participating at international Art Fairs like Kunst Zurich in November completes our gallery task.