Wichita Art Museum officials are calling its current touring exhibition a “showstopper.”
It’s wordplay on the exhibition’s focus on works created by one of America’s most prolific artists — who, at 98 years old, is still painting — that combine performing and visual arts.
WAM is the last and only Midwest stop on the national touring schedule of “Alex Katz: Theater and Dance,” which will be on view through May 10. Admission for the exhibition is $12 and free for WAM members, college students with ID and youth 18 and younger. The exhibition’s free admission day — a special offer that WAM generally provides for its featured exhibitions — is Saturday, March 21, to coincide with the museum’s monthly Family ArtVenture program.
“This exhibition shows how visual and performing arts are inseparably linked. Great theater needs great visual art — costumes, props, set design and more — and Alex Katz’s masterful use of color and form delivered a major impact for the performances to which he contributed,” said WAM curator Tera Hedrick in a press release.
“In turn, Katz was endlessly inspired by the worlds of theater and dance. Wichita has a thriving arts community, so we at WAM are excited to bring this show here for all of us to enjoy. … and we’re proud to host its final act.”
A frequent subject of “CBS Sunday Morning” and The New York Times, Katz has been creating art for more than 75 years. At a time when abstraction was all the rage in American art, Katz was creating figurative art, which, as the name implies, focuses on the human figure, but it also includes landscapes and still life. With big, bold, minimalist compositions, his works have been called precursors to pop art.
While Katz’s works have been featured in more than 200 solo exhibitions and 500 group exhibitions since 1951, “Alex Katz: Theater and Dance” specifically focuses on Katz’s collaborations with dancers, choreographers and avant-garde companies on more than two dozen productions. Most of his collaborations were with Paul Taylor Dance Company, whose namesake had danced in the companies of some of America’s most famous modern dancers.
“This was a long, successful partnership with Paul Taylor,” said Hedrick on a recent tour of the exhibition. “It was all new and innovative when they started working together.”
Sometimes Katz designed the whole look of a dance number, from costumes to sets. Sometimes his set designs, like the cutout sculptures of dogs and the framework of a large cube on display in the exhibition, led to Taylor creating choreographies that were influenced by those pieces.
Four projected videos of dance numbers, including “Diggity,” where dancers move around the dog cutouts, help visitors see how those collaborations came together.
“Last Look” by Alex Katz, 1986. Oil on board, 24 x 60 1/4 inches.
In addition to paintings by Katz, some created as recently as a couple of years ago, the exhibition also includes rare archival material and never-before-exhibited sketches.
The sketches give a behind-the-scenes look at how Katz visualized the staging, costuming and more of the productions.
“If you’re interested at all in the process of how you get to the final product, these show that,” Hedrick said.
Most of the paintings focus on posed dancers and large closeups, but there are other series and paintings featured as well, like his five-print “Pas de Deux” series created in 1994. The prints relate to a five-panel painting that “Esquire” magazine commissioned in 1984. The prints feature five of Katz’s power-couple friends, dressed up in stylish 1980s fashion, including padded shoulders.
“Katz loves a chic New Yorker,” Hedrick quipped on the tour.
Many of the exhibition’s pieces are held by the Colby Museum of Art in Maine, where Katz has a summer home and studio. The museum’s Alex Katz Collection comprises the largest number of works by the artist; it’s so large that the museum has a dedicated wing and curator for the collection.
WAM also has three Katz pieces in its permanent collection, which have always been popular with visitors, Hedrick said. Two of those pieces, including “Maine Cow,” a double-sided print on aluminum, are displayed in the “(im)permanent” exhibition in another WAM gallery.
Several upcoming WAM Nights programs will tie in with the exhibition’s theme. The programs, held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Fridays, are free to attend. Topics include:
March 6, Ten Tiny Dances. Ten choreographers will perform original choreography on a 4-x-4-foot stage.
March 27, Wichita Dancers Panel. Performers of various dances and movement arts, including Chinese martial arts and Indian classical dance, will be featured.
April 10, Classical Indian Dance Workshop. Instructor Sonalli Kurlekar will lead the interactive workshop on Kathak, a classical Indian dance form. No dance experience is necessary; suitable for ages 7 and older. Pre-registration is required at wam.org/events.
April 24, Pop-Up Pop Art Party. Guests can enjoy artmaking, dancing, theater and music in Alex Katz’s style.
‘Alex Katz: Theater and Dance’ exhibition
What: a touring exhibition of paintings, rare archival materials and previously unexhibited sketches by one of America’s most prolific artists. Most pieces relate to Katz’s collaborations with dancers, choreographers and avant-garde dance companies on more than two dozen productions.
Where: Wichita Art Museum, 1400 W. Museum Blvd.
When: through Sunday, May 10. WAM hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, with extended hours until 9 p.m. on Fridays. Closed Mondays, Tuesdays and federal holidays.
Admission: $12, free for WAM members, college students with ID and youth 18 and younger. The exhibition will be free to visit on Saturday, March 21, to coincide with the museum’s monthly Family ArtVenture program.
More info: 316-261-4921, wam.org
