MICHAEL KAGAN’S ‘MOONWALKER’, A LIMITED-EDITION SCREENPRINT INSPIRED BY NASA’S APOLLO SPACE MISSIONS, LAUNCHES AT HERITAGE ON SEPTEMBER 26
Heritage Auctions is pleased to announce the exclusive launch, on September 26, of a limited-edition screenprint by Michael Kagan titled Moonwalker. “Launch” is an operative word in this case: The acclaimed New York-based artist, known for his bold and expressive paintings that celebrate the human impulse to explore and push the boundaries of experience via physical stamina and technology, creates jaw-dropping works featuring the intrepid heroes of our age – astronauts, supersonic fighter-jet pilots, mountaineers and Formula 1 drivers – and this latest work is no exception. Moonwalker draws inspiration from the rich history of NASA’s Apollo space missions, and here his suited-up astronaut, standing on the lunar surface, gazes toward his mission mate who is reflected in his helmet visor.
Kagan partnered with printmaking studio Brand X Editions for the exclusive release.
The work, created in masterful brushwork that pushes into abstraction and then pulls us back to an emotional and material clarity, recalls the iconic imagery that introduced us to the astounding achievements of our space program and the figures who made it happen. The Apollo moonwalkers exemplify the monumental achievements of human spaceflight; their collective journeys have captured the imagination of the world and continue to do so. Kagan’s interpretations of mankind’s riskiest endeavors deliver the psychological impact of those moments and commune with the extraordinary people who risk their lives in the process.
‘Moonwalker’ pays tribute to the astronauts of NASA’s Apollo space missions.
For this exclusive Heritage release, Kagan has partnered with the renowned printmaking studio Brand X Editions. Moonwalker (2024) is a richly colored, hand-printed screenprint on Magnani Incisioni paper in a limited edition of 150, signed and numbered by the artist. This Heritage collaboration with Kagan and Primary Arte will be made available on September 26 at 1 p.m. EST, and Heritage invites you to register and join the waitlist at HA.com/Moonwalker.
Kagan believes a painting reaches perfection “when it can either fall apart or come back together depending on how you read the image and how close you are.” His work is a virtuoso example of this phenomenon. Born in 1980 in Virginia Beach, Kagan earned his MFA from the New York Academy of Art, where he also completed a postgraduate fellowship in 2005.
Each print is signed and numbered by the artist.
Kagan has shown extensively, most recently at the powerhouses Venus Over Manhattan and Almine Rech, and some of his recent projects include a commission for The Smithsonian, collaborations with Pharrell Williams and creating the album cover artwork for White Lies’ Big TV, which won the Art Vinyl award for Best Art Vinyl in 2013. Kagan’s work is in significant collections, including the Hall Collection in Reading, Vermont; the Maezawa Collection in Chiba, Japan; the Maki Collection in Tokyo; the Gemini Trust Company in New York; Fidelity Investments Corporate Contemporary Art Collection in Boston; the Founders Fund in San Francisco; and Jacob & Co. in New York. He has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions worldwide – his most recent solo exhibition took place at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (Virginia MOCA) – and in 2019, a monograph of his work was published by ARTBOOK | DAP.
Kagan’s limited-edition screenprint Moonwalker will be available on September 26 at 1 p.m. EST for $750. For information on shipping, payment and to register or join the waitlist, visit HA.com/Moonwalker.