Alex Katz: Dance & Theater: The Art of Performance

Alex Katz, a painter, has collaborated with Paul Taylor since 1959, incorporating postwar painting principles into theater and dance aesthetics. This publication explores Katz's work for the stage, including collaborations with other companies and his celebrated set for Kenneth Koch's 1961 production, George Washington Crossing the Delaware. It includes paintings, sketches, costumes, photographs, film stills, and ephemera, with newly-commissioned essays and unpublished materials shedding light on avant-garde collaborations in New York between the 1960s and 80s.

Format: Hardback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 11 October 2022
Publisher: Rizzoli International Publications

Since Alex Katz first painted the Paul Taylor in 1959, he has invited dancers to model for him. Dance, according to the artist, belongs to the same long tradition of gestures as painting. This publication is the first to examine the many decades of Katz's work for the stage, including the ways that he introduced tenets of postwar painting into theatre and dance aesthetics.

I'd never seen anything like it, Katz recalls of his first encounter with the work of dancer and choreographer Paul Taylor. The two partnered on fifteen productions for which Katz innovated with flat lighting, humorous obstacles, and framing mechanisms. His involvement with Paul Taylor led to collaborations with other companies including Yoshiko Chuma, Laura Dean, William Dunas, and Parsons. Among Katz's most celebrated sets is the ensemble of cutouts he created for Kenneth Koch's 1961 production, George Washington Crossing the Delaware. Katz heightened the absurdity of the Revolutionary War-inspired play with Pop-adjacent figures and props.

This publication brings together paintings, sketches, costumes, photographs, film stills, and ephemera. Newly-commissioned essays, unpublished materials, and major paintings will provide an overview of Katz's working relationships with individual choreographers and shed new light on avant-garde collaborations in New York between the 1960s and 80s.

Weight: 1024g
Dimension: 260 x 210 x 30 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780847871469