At 95, an artist paints swiftly to capture the fugitive light

‘I’m trying to get into where the jazz musicians are – the immediate present.’

The Brooklyn-born artist Alex Katz has made a career of translating ephemeral experiences to the canvas. And, as he reflects in this short video, this approach requires both sensitivity and speed – for even staring out at a landscape is a moment in flux. Trailing Katz at his scenic studio in Lincolnville, Maine the short documentary explores how his style and subjects have evolved over the course of his eight-decades-long career, and why he’s driven to ‘paint the sensation of seeing’. Created by the Guggenheim Museum in New York City for the career retrospective ‘Alex Katz: Gathering’, which is on view at the museum until February of 2023, The Immediate Present evokes Katz’s meditative approach while offering a glimpse into his ongoing life’s work.