Pace Prints is happy to announce, Downforce, an exhibition of 16 new collages on panel by Brooklyn-based artist Michael Kagan, on view from March 21–April 26, 2025, at 536 West twenty second Avenue. A gap reception will likely be held on the gallery on Thursday, March 20 from 6-8pm.
Identified for his extremely gestural and decisively detailed work, Kagan’s work seeks to seize the people and applied sciences that push the boundaries of what’s bodily doable. Fittingly, for his first solo exhibition with Tempo Prints, Kagan has continued his latest deal with imagery from the high-octane world of Components One racing.
A world phenomenon and regarded the top of worldwide motor sports activities, Components One is distinguished by its depth – the automobiles are the quickest, the drivers are probably the most proficient, and the stakes are the very best. Drivers face not solely the pressures to win, however the excessive bodily calls for and dangers that associate with maneuvering probably the most aerodynamic and exactly engineered racing autos at over 200 m.p.h.
The present’s title, Downforce, invokes the core aerodynamic pressure that F1 automobiles exploit to attain their astounding speeds. This pressure creates downward stress on a driver as much as 5 occasions their very own physique weight and straight determines how nicely a automotive grips the monitor at high speeds. How a lot pressure a driver is ready to stand up to, and management, can imply the distinction between profitable and shedding.
To create these works, Kagan labored for over 2 years with the group of printers at Tempo Prints, establishing a multi-process printmaking approach that makes use of hand-painted and squeegeed monoprints, which had been then minimize by hand and integrated into extremely detailed collages.
Representational from a distance, but summary and painterly up shut, these large- and small-scale collages current dizzying textures and electrical swaths of shade, creating visually tantalizing results, and establishing their very own distinctive place in Kagan’s overarching inventive follow.
Iconic moments from the historical past of Components One are introduced all through the exhibition—each the euphoric and the catastrophic. Lewis Hamilton’s emotional physique language after having gained his first Grand Prix title in World Participant is contrasted by the fiery impression of Shifting By way of Time and Area, depicting the collision of Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc on the Belgian Grand Prix. All through this physique of labor, Kagan straight contends with the urge to pursue the extremes of human expertise and achievement.
For the exhibition, Kagan has created instantly recognizable portraits of a few of F1’s most well-known drivers, with out having to take away their helmets. The colours and sponsorship logos on every driver’s uniform are as identifiable as facial options for followers of the game. The Ferrari purple of The Protagonist (night time) may solely be Kimi Räikkönen, whereas the blues and greens of Driver determine the legendary Fernando Alonso.
Concurrently, the visored anonymity of every determine elevates these athletes into the realm of the tremendous heroic. The Champion exemplifies this valiant high quality, depicting four-time consecutive Components One Champion Max Verstappen celebrating his victory. The works recall the lionization of historic bust portraiture and permit for the physique language, shade, and context of every picture to convey the uncooked emotional content material of the work—resonating with even those that is perhaps unfamiliar with the game.
