Sofia Coppola’s seminal film “Lost In Translation” (2003) begins with a 33-second shot of Scarlett Johansson’s butt. And it is an iconic image—pulled directly from contemporary art. “It was based on a John Kacere painting,” Coppola told Rolling Stone. “His work all looks like that.”

Indeed, the Lexington, Kentucky-born Kacere became a star in the 1970s, collected by the likes of Sylvester Stallone. He was known for painting scantily clad bums of thin white women before photorealism had penetrated contemporary art. His work reads like the male gaze counterpart to late Chicago artist Christina Ramberg, simplified to focus on supple flesh and fabric.

John Kacere, Pascale (1987). Image: Gratin.

Kacere died in 1999, at 79, having produced 115 paintings. Those limited quantities, paired with backlash around his subject matter, have rendered it rare to witness Kacere’s work in person. (For his part, Kacere maintained that he made art about sexuality—not sex.) Louis K. Meisel staged a survey in 2020, but as Gratin gallery founder Talal Abillama told me, Meisel’s crowded SoHo, New York dealership doesn’t offer a traditional viewing experience. So, Abillama set out to organize an exhibition of Kacere’s work at his ascendant East Village gallery.

His exhibition, titled “Butt Can You Feel It?” features six large-scale works of oil on canvas, two smaller photos Kacere used as source imagery, and a sketch.

“Before I did the show, I would ask my friends, specifically girls, ‘what’s a painter or a painting that you like?'” Abillama recounted over the phone. Several mentioned Kacere. When Abillama finally got in front of a painting himself, he said, “it shook me.”

Every piece, except the film, is named after a sitter. Abillama said Kacere usually worked with models. He also did commissioned portraits—though not without incident.

John Kacere, Red Bikini (1975). Image: Gratin.

In 1972, for instance, Louisville’s Speed Art Museum acquired “Purple Panties” (ca. 1969). “Buying this painting was considered revolutionary,” Curator Miranda Lash later told Louisville Public Media. “They were so proud that they were able to, sort of, break past the traditional societal mores of being ‘prudish’ about sexuality.”

“Purple Panties” became a local icon. The Speed sold it on posters and matchbooks. But, controversy broke out in 2004. The work’s model, Eleanor Browning Coke—daughter of photographer Van Deren Coke—sued her father’s estate for forcing her to disrobe so Kacere, his friend, could paint her. Browning Coke was 24 at the time. Still, the conversation around consent’s relation to power dynamics persisted. Rather than shying away from the issue, Lash put “Purple Panties” back on view in 2018, with an enhanced wall label to add context.

John Kacere, Kristina (1991). Image: Gratin.

Such debates have not stymied demand for Kacere’s work. One of his paintings even appeared on a Supreme shirt in 2022. Abillama told me the admiration was palpable last Friday night as fashion folk, families, and fans descended on “Butt Can You Feel It?”

“Time is the best friend of great art,” he said.

Given Kacere’s limited oeuvre, Abillama had to chase a chain of collectors from New York to Paris to Tokyo, plying them to put their pieces on view or up for sale. Most of these artworks have never hung in the same room. The guy who consigned the show’s biggest work even considered taking it back after seeing it installed. Abillama convinced him otherwise by raising the price. Several works here cost six figures. By the time of writing, some have already sold.

John Kacere’s “Butt Can You Feel It?” is on view at Gratin Gallery until December 20, 2024.