The work of artist Alex Katz will be featured in an exhibition opening Sunday at the Butler Institute of American Art.

“Collaborations with Poets” offers an intimate look at Alex Katz’s longtime collaborative engagement with poets and spans work created over the past 60 years, including prints, portfolios, special edition books, paintings and unique cutouts, all which center on Katz’s communion and intersection with poets throughout his career.

The exhibition was first exhibited in 2023 at the Poetry Foundation in Chicago, but the Butler show will include paintings and cutouts not displayed elsewhere.

According to Louis A. Zona, executive director of the Butler, “The career of Alex Katz has been one of inspiration and innovation. Forever remaining in my memory is the large self-portrait which graced the entrance gallery at the Museum of Modern Art. Generations of artists have been inspired by his unique approach to portraiture and by his long-time influence on the New York School. The Butler Institute of American Art rolls out the red carpet in welcoming this genius of American art.”

One of the most recognized and widely exhibited artists of his generation, Katz came of age between Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. The artist began exhibiting his work in 1954, and since that time has established himself as a preeminent painter of modern life whose distinctive portraits and lyrical landscapes bear a flattened surface and consistent economy of line.

As Katz entered the art world in the 1950s, a new style of American poetry emerged, and the painter found natural affinities to the poets in their shared interest in expressing contemporary living. Katz developed a deep interest in poetry, an art form whose methodologies and tactics he considered “more stimulating than painting.”

“Alex Katz: Collaborations with Poets” will be on display through Nov. 17 at the Butler, 524 Wick Ave., Youngstown. An opening reception 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday will include a reading by Vincent Katz, an acclaimed poet, translator, curator and critic. It also will feature a screening of the video “In Dialogue with Alex Katz and Vincent Katz” in Zona Auditorium.

In conjunction with the Butler exhibition is a reprint of the publication “Alex Katz: Collaborations with Poets.” The expanded volume features an in-depth essay written by art historian and curator Debra Bricker Balken and comprehensive illustrations of Alex Katz’s book covers, print portfolios and unique artworks that center on his work with poets such as John Ashbery, Frank O’Hara, Ted Berrigan, Alice Notley and Ron Padgett.

This exhibition traveled from the Poetry Foundation in Chicago.