The article reviews Alex Katz's latest exhibition at Gladstone Gallery in New York, featuring 11 large orange-and-white canvases depicting the road to his Maine home, alongside Matthew Barney's three-channel video work "DRAWING RESTRAINT 28" showing Katz at work on a ladder. The show, on view through December 20, 2025, pairs Katz's new paintings with Barney's video, continuing a collaboration first seen at O'Flaherty's gallery. Katz, now 98, reflects on his artistic evolution, citing Matisse's "The Red Studio" as inspiration while asserting his move away from literal representation.
This exhibition matters because it presents Katz's work at a pivotal moment—approaching his centennial—while engaging with themes of aging, artistic legacy, and the tension between tradition and innovation. The pairing with Barney's video underscores Katz's enduring physical and creative vitality, challenging perceptions of what an older artist can produce. Katz's polemical disavowal of settled styles and his focus on a single, modest subject from 70 years of Maine summers highlight his continued relevance and refusal to be defined by past achievements.