Alex Katz's "Dancing with Reality" opens in Tübingen with sweeping late-career survey

Alex Katz’s long pursuit of capturing the energy of the present moment is now on full display. Dancing with Reality, a major exhibition at the Kunsthalle Tübingen, has officially opened, offering a rare and expansive look at the artist’s late work. Running through September 13, 2026, the exhibition brings together 40 large-scale paintings that feel as immediate as they are timeless. Developed in close collaboration with Katz himself, the show spans works from the 1990s to today, including several pieces being presented in Europe for the very first time. For a painter often linked to Pop Art, Dancing with Reality reframes Katz’s legacy. “He is a transcendental realist,” says curator and Kunsthalle director Dr. Nicole Fritz, highlighting his decades-long commitment to translating perception into painting. At nearly 99 years old, Katz remains deeply