“For me, visual art is no different than music or poetry. They all exist in time: sound to sound, word to word, color to color, one to the next.” – Julian Stanczak, 2008
Julian Stanczak (POL/USA, 1928 - 2017) was a painter, printmaker, and educator who emigrated from Europe to Cleveland, Ohio in 1950. He took his BFA at the Cleveland Institute of Art; and his MFA at Yale in 1956, where he studied with Josef Albers and Conrad Marca- Relli. Recognized as an early proponent of 'Op Art' painting, Stanczak exhibited with Martha Jackson Gallery in NYC from 1964 - 1979.
Julian Stanczak’s early life was marked by both enormous personal struggle and his commitment to an uplifted outlook informed by art and music. Born in Poland in 1928, he was forced out of the country during WWII and sent to a labor camp. After his escape in 1942, he journeyed through the Middle East to an East African refugee camp. After the war, he emigrated from Europe to the U.S., establishing his residence in Cleveland, Ohio in 1950.
This year, Stanczak's geometric paintings were included in Kandinsky's Universe: Geometric Abstraction in the 20th Century, at Museum Barberini in Potsdam, Germany; as well as Early Masterworks, a solo exhibition at Diane Rosenstein Gallery in Los Angeles. Since 1948 to the present day, Julian Stanczak's paintings and prints have been consistently exhibited in museums, institutions, biennials, and galleries throughout the world. Notable historic group shows include The Responsive Eye, MoMA (1965); Site and Insight: An Assemblage of Artists (Curated by Agnes Gund), MOMA/ P.S. 1 (2003), Ghosts in the Machine, New Museum, (2012), and Geometric Obsession: The American School 1965-2015, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo Buenos Aires (MACBA), Argentina (2016). Major solo exhibitions include Julian Stanczak: 50 Year Retrospective, Cleveland Institute of Art, Ohio, (2001) and Line Color Illusion: 40 Years of Collecting, Julian Stanczak, Akron Art Museum, Ohio (2013).
His work is included in the permanent collection of more than 100 institutions, including
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Buffalo AKG Art Museum, NY; the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC; Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Gallery, Washington, DC; and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.