Why Rockefeller Center is Hiring a Color Field Painter for a Portrait Series of 20th Century Icons

  Artist John Platt

By KEN KRANTZ May 28, 2024

Vertical. Elegant. Controlled. These are words that come to mind viewing John Platt’s “Stories of Color” series as presented by Uprise Art. Each canvas boasts a row of thick lines of oil paint standing at attention, rigid in negative space. Platt’s undeniable mastery of form and color provides a sense of opaque narrative, a story just out of reach.

Worlds away (in his Ridgewood studio), the same John Platt is producing a series of vibrant portraits to be displayed in an upcoming show at Rockefeller Center.

Marilyn Monroe, Naomi Campbell, and Anna May Wong held a conversation across three walls drenched in natural light. Beneath them, gestural dry-brush works expanded upon the “Stories in Color” series, trading structure for movement.

Platt is creating portraits of sixteen 20th century icons for a portrait series commissioned by Rockefeller Center’s RXR. The women in the paintings were chosen by the RXR Women’s Initiative and curator David Gise, Head of Hospitality & Amenities. Platt explains, “I was raised on their stories. I was raised in feminism, and my mother was a leader in the women’s caucus in Hawaii, working to make it the first state to ratify the E.R.A. In 1972.”

When Platt described the show’s intent and methodology, I was struck by his methodical approach. The portraits, done mostly in blues and greens, will resemble a stained-glass window when arranged in the final exhibition space. Platt’s background in abstraction seems to permit him to disassociate from each singular likeness to create a total viewer experience of color through which to draw them into history and meaning.

“The installation itself has to be really beautiful,” Platt says, describing the series as a conduit for opening discussions about the subjects. “I want to convey a real sense of power, which transitions into a more meaningful conversation about the historical context of these great women.”

John Platt is producing a series of vibrant portraits to be displayed in an upcoming show at Rockefeller Center.
 

By enlisting a color field painter, Rockefeller Center breathes new life into the familiar faces of 20th-century icons with a sense of vibrancy and dynamism only possible in a figurative capture of the abstract. He primarily works from black-and white photographs, making his sense of color vital to the project’s success.

“My concept for this show isn't just about their achievements and historical significance. It's also about this incredible sequence of color. That’s where my two styles merge,” he explains. “On some level, it's all very instinctive and intuitive about color.”

Platt hopes the installation will turn the lobby into a place to reflect, even using color schemes inspired by the stained glass windows of Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle in Paris. Seeing them honored in the historic Rockefeller Center is a necessary reminder of their importance, calling to mind our collective memories of their power.

Platt resists concrete interpretations of his abstract work. That exploration is for the individual. Here, we enjoy a reverse-abstraction in the precision of these likenesses. The figurative memory work inspires the abstract, creating impact in shape and color.

In a market where artists are increasingly expected to produce iterative work on a single style or subject, the structured encounters found in Platt’s work are the connective tissue of his canon. He shared with me a favorite quote: “Rothko said, ‘A painting is not a picture of experience. A painting is an experience.’ Have the experience of the painting without trying to read into it a narrative.”

Platt’s near-encyclopedic knowledge of the New York School, broad collection of references (painterly, architectural, cultural, etc…), and technical excellence in color allow him to effortlessly permeate the boundaries of figurative and abstract work. It is no easy feat to maintain two such distinct lines of business; it is even more difficult to do both successfully. And yet, Platt navigates these disparate worlds with a grace and finesse that speaks to his colorful artistic vision. WM