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Alex Katz Media and Influencer Exhibition Preview Night

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Julie Smith
Stuart O. Smith, Jr.
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Cleveland
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Cleveland Museum of Art

"Brand-New & Terrific: Alex Katz in the 1950s"

The Cleveland Museum of Art Presents Brand-New & Terrific: Alex Katz in the 1950s

Cleveland, OH (April 27, 2017) – Brand-New & Terrific: Alex Katz in the 1950s is the largest museum exhibition to showcase Alex Katz’s (b. 1927) innovative portraits, landscapes and still lifes from this pioneering period. Organized by the Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville, Maine, in close collaboration with Katz, this presentation explores the first decade of the artist’s career, a period characterized by fierce experimentation from which his signature brightly colored figurative paintings emerged. The exhibition’s title derives from Katz’s early manifesto announcing his intentions to invigorate traditional artistic subject matter. Creating work at a time when abstract painting dominated the art scene, Katz forged an ingenious way to wed abstraction with recognizable imagery by paring down his compositions to their most fundamental elements. In retrospect, these works prefigured the subsequent development of Pop Art. The exhibition includes more than 80 key loans from public and private collections, including many rarely seen works from the artist’s own holdings as well as a sampling of Katz’s works from the CMA collection. In a free program on May 12 at the Cleveland Museum of Art, the artist will talk about his early works on view in the exhibition. Brand-New & Terrific: Alex Katz in the 1950s is on view in the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation Hall at the Cleveland Museum of Art April 30 through August 6, 2017.

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Read the full press release online here or as a PDF file.

When we were fortunate enough to receive an invitation to attend the April 26, 2017, Cleveland Museum of Art's (@ClevelandArt) "Alex Katz Media and Influencer Exhibition Preview," we decided to read a bit about the artist online, and also viewed his website, AlexKatz.com. The exhibition opened on Sunday, April 30, 2017, and will continue through Sunday, August 6, 2017. All the details can be found on the museum's Brand-New & Terrific: Alex Katz in the 1950s web page. You should also watch the #CMAkatz hashtag on different social media platforms, and share what you see with others.

Cover of the May/June 2017, "Cleveland Art" magazine Cleveland Art magazine featuring "Brand-New & Terrific: Alex Katz in the 1950s" Cleveland Art magazine featuring "Brand-New & Terrific: Alex Katz in the 1950s"

As members of the Cleveland Museum of Art, we had recently received the print version of the May/June 2017, Cleveland Art magazine, which included an article about the exhibition. (You can read the magazine online here, and also see: ClevelandArt.org/Magazine.) In the magazine, we recognized the painting, Impala, 1968, as part of the Cleveland Museum of Art's permanent collection, and looked forward to seeing some of Alex Katz's other work.

We decided to write this blog post to share what we learned and saw at the preview, and also as our way of thanking Communications Associate Kelley Notaro (@KelleyNotaro) for inviting us.

Alex Katz Exhibition Preview

Alex Katz Media and Influencer Exhibition Preview Invitation

The museum's Director of Communications, Caroline Guscott (@CarolineHerself), and Kelley Notaro greeted us as we arrived to start the evening. They introduced us to Curator of American Painting and Sculpture Mark Cole. It was great to have Mark Cole at the preview, so that we could ask questions about the paintings and learn some art history of the time period represented by this exhibition of Alex Katz's work. (Mark Cole's bio PDF file.)

We also met Diana K. Tuite, the Katz Curator from the Colby College Museum of Art (@ColbyMuseum), and enjoyed learning more about the show from listening to Dan Hanson's (@DanHanson) interview of her. Thank you to Dan for providing the full interview online for us to share:

At the start of the preview, we were treated to hors d'oeuvres and drinks from the Cleveland Museum of Art's fine dining restaurant, Provenance (@ProvenanceAtCMA), which included a signature cocktail created especially for this event. Cleveland foodies would appreciate how Chef Douglas Katz (@phireman) was at the preview to inform us that Provenance has a special menu with a theme to complement the Alex Katz exhibition (view dinner PDF and lunch PDF).

Signature cocktail for the Alex Katz Media and Influencer Exhibition Preview  Fine dining restaurant Provenance dinner menu following theme of the Alex Katz exhibition

Brand-New & Terrific: Alex Katz in the 1950s

Attending the advanced view of the Brand-New & Terrific: Alex Katz in the 1950s exhibition, Julie especially enjoyed the vivid colors, the flowers, the later portraits, and the collages. Stuart appreciated how the exhibition was displayed to show the difference in Alex Katz's art the during the time period displayed, and the use of different media. Portraits are always Stuart's area of interest.

Here are our photos of the April 26, 2017, "Alex Katz Media and Influencer Exhibition Preview" (we recommend viewing in full screen mode), and our @sos_jr tweets and retweets relating to the exhibition.

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos/videos,
please view them here.

Please share any articles, photos, and videos that you find interesting by retweeting -- a retweet is the best way to share with others on Twitter. We also recommend looking for more photos on social media by searching for the #CMAkatz hashtag and following @ClevelandArt on Twitter.

Key Dates & Ticket Information - Alex Katz Exhibition

Here are some key dates of events relating to the Alex Katz Exhibition. Read all the details in the The Cleveland Museum of Art Presents Brand-New & Terrific: Alex Katz in the 1950s press release that Kelley Notaro posted on April 27th, and watch for updates.

  • In Conversation: Diana Tuite and Alex Katz
    Friday, May 12, 2017, 7:00 p.m., Free, tickets required.

  • MIX: Terrific
    Friday, June 2, 6:00–10:00 p.m., $10 in advance, $15 day of event. CMA members FREE.

  • Art and Fiction Book Club: Alex Katz and John Updike
    Two Wednesdays, July 12 and 19, 1:30–2:30 p.m., $35 per session/CMA members $30 per session.

  • Katz and Cocktails: Paint Night
    Friday, July 28, 6:00–8:30, $45/$30 CMA members.

  • As we were preparing this blog post, Kelley Notaro emailed us to let us know that "There will be docent tours of the exhibition on Tuesdays at 11 a.m. and Sat/Sun at 2 p.m. starting May 9. An exhibition ticket will be required."

    We have attended docent tours before for special exhibitions, and highly recommend them. Watch @ClevelandArt for details!

 

Ticket information:

"Brand-New & Terrific: Alex Katz in the 1950s" Ticket Information

Tickets for Brand-New & Terrific: Alex Katz in the 1950s are $12 for adults; seniors and college students $10; children ages 6–17 $6; children 5 and under free. Museum members free; member guests $6.

Search Cleveland's Permanent Art Collection & ArtLens

The Cleveland Museum of Art has placed all of Alex Katz's artwork that they own in the last room of the exhibition. We recognized Impala, 1968 as part of the Cleveland Museum of Art's permanent collection, but did not know the other works displayed there were by the same artist. We appreciate that the Cleveland Museum of Art displayed their collection of Katz's artwork together, so we will know to look for these paintings in future years.

A tip for those of you who have a smartphone -- preload the museum's ArtLens App, so you can easily search for the museum's database of artwork currently on display. (NOTE: the Art Lens App only shows currently exhibited works that are owned by the museum. The app will not show works that are on loan to the museum.)

While the Art Lens App only shows currently displayed art, the full permanent collection can be easily searched on the Cleveland Museum of Art's website anytime at: ClevelandArt.org/Art/Collection/Search

Easily search for the museum's database of currently shown works of art.

 

During the Alex Katz exhibition preview, we talked to Cleveland Museum of Art Chief Information Officer Jane Alexander (@JaneCAlexander) about the exciting metamorphosis of Gallery One into something new! Later in the evening, we went to see the ArtLens Exhibition construction area, and talked to the museum staff there about both the current developments of the ArtLens App and the changes to the gallery.

Innovation under construction! Exciting new developments at the Cleveland Museum of Art Innovation under construction! Gallery One will reopen in June 2017 as the ArtLens Exhibition. The Collection Wall, a 40-foot interactive, multitouch, MicroTile wall, displays in real time all works of art from the permanent collection currently on view in the galleries Innovation under construction!

We are excited about, and looking forward to experiencing the new ArtLens Exhibition when it opens in June 2017. Here is some of the ArtLens information from the museum's website:

INNOVATION UNDER CONSTRUCTION! Gallery One will be temporarily closed starting Monday, March 6 2017 through June 2017. The STUDIO and WALL will still be open!

Gallery One will reopen in June 2017 as the ArtLens Exhibition. The goal of the Exhibition is to be an experiential gallery that puts you, the viewer, into conversation with masterpieces of art, encouraging engagement on a personal, emotional level. The art selection and barrier-free digital interactives will inspire you to approach the museum’s collection with greater curiosity, confidence, and understanding. Transitioning away from the touchscreen technology that Gallery One relied upon, the Exhibition interactives will use barrier-free, gesture-sensing projections that respond seamlessly to body movement and facial recognition as you approach, immersing you in the experience. There are 16 new and innovative games, centered on the following themes: Composition, Symbols, Gestures and Emotion, and Purpose. The Exhibition will feature a smaller collection of artworks (20) that are all new to the space. Each artwork will have two corresponding games in different themes, allowing you to dive deeper into understanding the object. Rather than screens positioned in front of the artworks, the Exhibition will reverse the experience with the artwork positioned in the foreground

Read all the information about the ArtLens Exhibition, and watch for updates here.

Read more about the ArtLens App and Gallery One's history in our blog posts:

There are many more blog posts that we have written about the Cleveland Museum of Art and other museums in University Circle that you can read here.

We recommend following @InTheCircle on Twitter, and exploring University Circle's website: UniversityCircle.org

What Others Say

Here are some of the other articles and blog posts we have seen about the Brand-New & Terrific: Alex Katz in the 1950s exhibition:

Thank you!

Thank you, Cleveland Museum of Art, for this enjoyable evening. We look forward to attending future events at one of our favorite museums!

 

Disclosure: We were invited by the Cleveland Museum of Art's communications department to attend the April 26, 2017, "Alex Katz Media and Influencer Exhibition Preview," which took place before the April 30, 2017, opening of the Brand-New & Terrific: Alex Katz in the 1950s exhibition. We enjoyed free drinks, hors d'oeuvres, and admission to this advanced preview to be one of the first to view the new exhibition. (We are members of the Cleveland Museum of Art, which entitles us to the benefit of attending special exhibitions for free, but the exhibition preview was beyond our membership benefits.) We were also each given the catalog, Brand-New & Terrific: Alex Katz in the 1950s, by Diana Tuite (listed on The Cleveland Museum of Art Online Museum Store for $60.00), and sunglasses in the theme of this 1950s exhibit. We were approached to attend the preview because of our support of Cleveland Museum of Art via our @sos_jr Twitter feed, and our sosAssociates.com blog posts about the museum. We enjoyed the preview, and wrote this blog to share our experience at the event, and to thank the museum communications department for inviting us to the special "Alex Katz Media and Influencer Exhibition Preview."