Most painting in the European tradition was painting the mask. Modern art rejected all that. Our subject matter was the person behind the mask.             ~Robert Motherwell

In 1984 John Caldwell, a curator at the Carnegie Museum of Art who organized two Carnegie Internationals, introduced me to Jak Katalan.  I was impressed with the quality of his ingenuous art, with its roots in Cubism, Constructivism and Minimalism.  Upon seeing his work, it was obvious he is an artist who understands the complex language of abstraction. He maintains an interest in creating non-representation in which the illusion of nature is completely eliminated.  Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to produce a composition that may exist with a degree of independence from actual world visual references.  The end purpose of Katalan’s work was in its organization, experimentation and expressive potential.

I have followed the evolution of Jak Katalan’s work for years and remain captivated by the eclecticism in his output of paintings and works on paper.  His art resides in its character as a whole, in the sheer specificity of the multiple layers and the varied materials from which each work is fabricated.  Over several decades his work has evolved from precise, linear, geometric action to pieces characterized by idiosyncratic, compelling enigmatic compositions that evince an astute painterly technique and a variable handling of sensuously appealing surfaces with multiple textures, shapes and colors, co-existing with a subtle grid structure.  Even though his art appears to demonstrate a stylistic metamorphosis, Katalan does not view his development as one of change but as a process of “continual assimilation of multiple elements.”  He claims that he never discards his past but instead builds on it through a process of exploration and discovery, viewing his artistic evolution as an “additive process.”  Throughout his oeuvre one observes steadfastness to the modernist mantra of frequently revising his work, at times sometimes “erasing” and reworking a piece over a period of time.

In recent months, we have been living through a surreal time with the entire fabric of daily life being turned upside down.  The COVID-19 contagion has literally shut down everything from social gatherings, restaurants, bars and has closed museums, theatres and cancelled concerts, plunging many cultural institutions into uncertainty.  Artists are suffering not only because they cannot show their work, have studio visits or engage in critiques but also many have no income.

At the height of “Bad Painting” and “New Figuration”, when non-representational work was being replaced with image-explicit art, Katalan along with such artists as, Mel Bochner, Nancy Graves, Bryan Hunt, Jonathan Lasker, Peter Plagens and David Reed engaged in re-examining the complex vocabulary of modernism and its various movements.  Despite the popularity of narrative art, many artists held fast to making non-representational work and welcomed the relaxation of categories and boundaries begun in the 1970s.  The new abstract artists, among others were indebted to the work of Eva Hesse who challenged the narrow categorization of sculpture and painting.  Their varied work undermined not only the limited definition of abstraction but also encapsulated the intensity of the era they were living in. Their openness to disparate sources of content and approach demonstrated a comprehension of the disruption of the Modernist canon.

I called Jak Katalan and asked him how he was handling this strange era.  Being a self-sufficient person and one who is accustomed to solitude, he enthusiastically told me about a new series he’s been working on—one that has been inspired by the pandemic.  For him this time has proven to be an opportunity—one that has motivated him to produce an ambiguously layered series of small paintings on paper.

When thinking about abstract art it is essential to realize that it’s not just a twentieth-century occurrence.  It has been a part of a visual language since primitive time and one can observe naïve graphic gestures created in prehistoric cave paintings and stylized hieroglyphs, in Egyptian tombs, Chinese calligraphy, Islamic motifs, graphic symbols in medieval science and religious rituals.  Much of the art of earlier cultures – signs and marks on pottery, textiles, and inscriptions and paintings on rock – were simple, geometric and linear forms that held symbolic meaning throughout their decorative surfaces.

Katalan’s new body of work is intense, evincing a sense of inquiry and discovery with a fascination with the unknown.  There is no intended message in any of his work, with each piece being open to multiple interpretations.  He achieves an adroit balance between the form, texture and surface dimension in each composition, with the collective elements never distracting from the piece’s overall arrangement. This work demonstrates a synthesis of painterly surface within dimensional planes.

I asked Katalan when he had begun this latest series of paintings and he replied that he started making them shortly after the shut down in March. However, at the time he hadn’t decided to produce a series influenced by the pandemic.  What he said was: “With the lock-down and self-isolation as a consequence of the Covid-19 epidemic, I realized that my access to certain materials was suddenly restricted.  I began playing with the leaves of a sketchbook I have used to jot ideas for various pieces, in order not to forget them.  I started by using these older sketches as initial starting points for new two dimensional ideas, utilizing any material that was available to me at home, such as wax of whatever color leftover, newspaper, colors or other leftover materials that were in my cabinet.”

In Katalan’s art the successive forms in each composition are often the result of the relationship of this artist’s action, the type and viscosity of the paint he uses, and the kind of absorbency of the paper he is working on.  “In abstract painting the system of marks, strokes, and spots and certain ways of combining and distributing them on the field have become available for arbitrary use without the requirement of correspondence as signs.”[1]

For painters using oil-based pigments, encaustic or acrylic, the span of time it takes for the paint to harden is critically important.  Viscosity is one of the factors that determine how much the pigment moves around (spreads) inside the paint before it can harden.  A fundamental element throughout Katalan’s work is wax, as it has been in previous paintings. This component is used in almost all of his pieces and it is the ingredient that generates the coexisting transparencies, ambiguities and as well as the overall mystery pervading in each composition.  Although this body of work evolved in a chronological manner it is significant to discuss DR-14 in order to understand the process behind Katalan’s method of working.

Prior to beginning a work Katalan starts by planning out the details for the composition’s structure.  He makes a sketch that functions as a type of map that evinces a fundamental concept for the arrangement of the piece.  The image of DR-14, here illustrated alongside its sketch offers a graphic suggestion about the construction of the intended piece, as well as a glimpse into his creative thinking.  It is from this early diagram that Katalan methodically yet spontaneously builds his ensuing works.  Examining the completed DR-14 painting one observes a very dissimilar image from the original drawing however it is apparent that the preliminary sketch remains the core structure for the composition that has gone through a metamorphosis of arrangements, textures and materials in addition to the colors.

Jak Katalan’s art is kindred with such process artists as Eva Hesse, Robert Ryman and Bruce Nauman who also used unconventional materials and approaches yet understood the principles of Minimalism and the significance of the grid.  The end product of Katalan’s work never is the primary emphasis.  Improvisation plays a significant role and the final image ensues from his creating eccentric forms, irregular arrangements and working freely with using paint, wax and random objects.  The final rendition of DR-14 depicts the essence of the initial sketch with its divided format, linearity and squiggles nonetheless it is Katalan’s use of wax, color, transparency, newsprint and subliminal actions that has transported the original concept into an object of intrigue, filled with rich surfaces and muted colors.

Even though the 20 paintings on paper are individually unique, what connects them as a series is a pervasive raw intensity and Katalan’s somewhat dark, brooding tonal palette. In the first piece, DR-1, the fluid use of wax in the lower half has created an organic shape resembling an animal skin that appears to be sliding off the surface whereas in the upper portion intense calligraphic black marks hold fast to the surface, challenging the edge of the format.  In DR-2 (above left), the overall image is lighter; however it exposes complex multiple layering as well as various textures and numerous marks ranging from organic wax shapes to black dots and fine black lines.  A sense of urgency abounds in this composition. 

A visual connectivity with this work and DR-4 is apparent both with his use of mustard color paint and the black dot screen like pattern. Nevertheless, DR-4 is more multifaceted in its layering, painterly application and textural surface.  In this work Katalan has removed a square from the middle left area and placed it at the lower edge.  It appears to have slid off the page and in its place he has replaced it with newsprint.  Connecting all the elements in the composition is swirling ochre paint applied with a square dowel.  Underlying sketches of geometric triangles and squares become echoes of the previously mentioned acts in this rhythmic work along with a type of braided cord emerging from the center of the piece that extends out of composition creating shadows on the wall and again echoing the pattern of the square with the black dots.

DR-3 is an anomaly in the series because of the red marks that resemble splattered blood that have dripped across both the subtle gray upper background sketch and subtle black marks along with the lower portion of the composition revealing a grid-like drawing.  As in other works this image is divided in half with the upper area darker in contrast to the lower portion being cream color.  The light lower field acts to emphasize the red splotches that are suggestive of wounds and damage.  Although there is no obvious narrative to this work one cannot speculate if Katalan subconsciously is grappling with the gravity of Covid-19 and how this invisible virus is murdering large percentages of the population—especially New York State being ravaged by the virus at this time.

Two gripping works are DR-8 and DR-9 (above right).  Each of these densely organized pieces draws the viewer to the center area of the painting.  In the former a white square with a geometric drawing under Mylar radiates out against a field similar to a wall of weathered pealing paint.  So much is presented in this work with its rich textures, bold linear black marks and accents of white and yellow color.  DR-9 is the darker of the two paintings evincing a sense of urgency by the ominous field of crisscrossing, frenetic lines that function to frame a large chunk of cream-colored wax containing ginger organic shapes analogous to cells one might observe under a microscope or Petri dish, a most common item in biology laboratories.

As this series unfolded it is obvious that Katalan’s methods of fabricating his work became more investigational and extemporaneous.  He felt the works DR-11 and DR-12 were breakthrough pieces in both approach and technique.  Albeit on one hand the compositions appear more controlled and on another one observes here a subtler under painting, pulling and scraping, intensified translucency with an amalgamation of drawing and newsprint.  Together these two works function as a diptych with both panels outwardly engaged in a type of dialogue with the other.

Collage overtime becomes a vital component in this series.  The paintings DR-17, 19 and 20 disclose a subtle yet definite connectedness to each other by Katalan’s use of found materials, the arrangement of the geometric and organic shapes and his lively and expressive strokes produced with pencil, graphite and palette knife marks.  All three pieces are horizontal and manifesting a delicate handling of wax that is especially significant in fabricating the rich textural surfaces and the pervasive luminosity in each work.  Whereas the collages of the DADA artist Kurt Schwitters were characterized by their harmonious, romantic arrangements of still recognizable found objects and his overt incorporation of printed media.  Katalan’s paintings with their numerous surfaces and captivating surfaces evoke a variety of connotations to engage a viewer’s imagination and emotions.  Of the three works, DR-20 is the most foreboding, displaying a sense of ominous emergency.

Elements from previous paintings appear in this work including the dark undulating lines, focus on a center section and the underlying structural grid drawing.  A synthesis of multiple ideas and techniques co-exist in this robust piece in which he has mastered a method of altering everyday materials, painting over their surfaces and pulling together multiple colors and linear arrangements. 

This commanding work demonstrates not only Katalan’s interest in formal and intellectual concerns, but also evinces his engagement with the external world and his own emotions.  DR-20 is reminiscent of what one might witness in a highly combustible moment—everything is exploding simultaneously.  One is drawn into the white central section that appears to be sucking upward the black marks. The two sides framing this area resemble flames and gusts calling to mind the Inferno and Dante’s journey through Hell.

The forms and shapes in Katalan’s art are a blend of structural planning and experimental discovery, as well as of his awareness of a world being besieged by a pandemic. This new work is an expression of formal configuration, inventiveness and subconscious thoughts being visualized. When asked, what do you keep in the studio for inspiration, Katalan replied, “I don’t keep anything visual as reference, but I often catch myself seeing a shot on TV, a reflection in a store window that might give me a fresh idea. But on the whole, I think about the pieces I have completed and my next ideas come very much from there.” Katalan continuously is reconnoitering how to convey his thoughts, push boundaries and engage in alternative ways of constructing a painting.  He feels that “The small scale of these pieces allowed me to take more risks and be more experimental. They are evolving freely, one piece leading to the next in an ever-changing direction.”

I asked if his practice changed during this time of social distance?  His response was “My practice has become much more spontaneous, but it’s not due to social distancing. It probably has more to do with the fact that I’m working on paper, as well as the materials that I work with such as collage, wax, powdered pigments which require a faster, more spontaneous way of working.” The images in Katalan’s COVID series remind me of fragments from ancient times containing hidden layers of information that is difficult to decipher and resist explicit interpretation.  Together they represent a powerful group of dynamic paintings executed during a grim era inviting viewers to ponder.

By Elaine A. King, Contributing Writer

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[1] Meyer Shapiro, “On Some Problems in the Semiotics of Visual Art: Field and Vehicle in Image Signs,” Semiotics I, 3 (1969), p. 240.