Alex Katz: White Lotus Series.

Alex Katz, at age 97, is painting better than ever-even he says so. One of his latest series, White Lotus, contains masterful, somewhat mysterious portraits of couples in varying poses, that are open to broad interpretation. In front of a clear blue background, it’s difficult to tell if the couples are falling in love, falling out of love, wanting to meet or wanting to walk away. Each portrait is done in Katz’s simple, minimalist style, but each has complex content.

Katz has finally gotten the accolades he deserves…a retrospective at the Guggenheim, a solo show at MoMA and, most recently, the National Medal of Arts.

His traveling solo show, Alex Katz: Theater and Dance is currently of view at the Baker Museum in Naples, Florida until February 2, 2025 and will go on view at the Frye Museum in Seattle from February 22, 2025 through June 8, 2025.

Julian Opie (b.1958) is the master of minimal. The appeal of his work is so universal that it can be found in cities around the world. His works are currently on view at the Amsterdam Light Festival, a group exhibit that lights up the city every year, and runs through January 19, 2025.

Opie has used a variety of media and technology to give his figures movement and light. Walk by one of his Dance figures, available at VFA, and it will move with you. 

The works of Keith Haring (1958-1990), Jean-Michel Basquiat and An-My Le are part of a current exhibit at the Whitney. Shifting Landscapes is not about changing terrain, but about changing social, political and ecological issues that motivate artists.

Keith Haring’s work focused on making art accessible to all, taking the stigma out of AIDs-related diagnoses and the danger of drug addiction. Jean-Michel Basquiat used symbols to point out distinctions between wealth and poverty and the ways in which American society perceives people of color. An-My Le fled from Saigon with her family during the Vietnam War. She earned degrees in biology and French studies at Stanford, and an MFA in photography at Yale. In 1994 she returned to Vietnam and took photos of the landscapes of her birthplace. “You can ascribe character to a landscape.” she wrote. “It is like a stage.’On her return to the States she began photographing soldiers preparing for combat. 

Below is a video, taken by a museum visitor, of the exhibit. It is as much about the excitement of visiting a major museum in the heart of bustling Manhattan, as it is about the exhibit itself. There are no English subtitles, but none are needed:

The works in Shifting Landscapes are drawn from the Whitney’s collection, featuring works from the 1960s to the present. The exhibit will be on view through January 2026.

Please contact us if you would like more information about the works available at VFA.