JON KRAWCZYK
SMOKE MIRRORS & PLANES
MAY 21 – JUNE 24, 2016
OPENING RECEPTION: SATURDAY, MAY 21, 2016, 6 – 8 PM
Garboushian Gallery is pleased to present its inaugural solo gallery exhibition of sculptor Jon Krawczyk with SMOKE MIRRORS & PLANES .
Evocative and ethereal, sculptor Jon Krawczyk’s artwork engages its viewer and its environment in ways that most artwork is incapable of. Working mostly with steel, Krawczyk manipulates the metal to a high finish, and is able to bend and move it into unique abstract forms that can attract and reflect like a mirror. His work finds a particularly beautiful balance between the object and the audience. His shining monuments live on their own, but also interact with their surroundings—reflecting, blending, altering, even heating and cooling—they are not stagnant in any environment, and when engaged with viewers, appearances can be transformed and deconstructed.
Krawczyk, a highly sought after sculptor has been showing his fine art works all over the world since the early nineties. Krawczyk’s work pushes and pulls between the organic and the constructed. The current work on exhibit in “Smoke Mirrors and Planes” include three major categorical bodies of work.
His Smoke works are roller coaster-like ribbons, primarily dealing with defining forms in space through the use of dramatic curves, angles and mass. His looping pieces provide large open spaces within themselves, like living creatures, and are intimately intertwined.
The Cube pieces synthesize the forging opposites—mass and space—within a form that’s partially dematerialized by the polishing of some sides and not others. The highly reflective polished sides read as discrete planes that capture the eye and consequently elude the three dimensional form. Acting as a vessel of sorts, they have the potential, like us, to hold unique and intimate details inside themselves.
His Text-based works are asymmetrical parabolas of metal that taper quickly on one side, stretch out and curl back into themselves to hover above their own centers. He utilizes particular words and the scientific magic of geometry to emphasize, diminish and play with the verbal relationships present in our own understanding of language and space.
Playing with shape and form and fabricating every aspect by hand, Krawczyk feels inspired by the process of making these intensive works. Much of the process of this kind of work is simply laborious—grinding, welding, sanding, buffing. He admits that his process is a continual experiment as he searches for the perfect form to fit each and every idea. Meandering between geometric forms and fluidity, he is inspired by the battle of these two opposing forces, and how they flow together. Intrigued with the reflections and the notion that he could transform appearances to the viewer, to add another dimension, his process highlights the actual form being an important feature, but the underlying significance in the experience of engaging with the physical works allow for the environment to converse with his creations all on their own.
His work can be seen all over the country, including a masterful 9/11 memorial piece at Ground Zero in New York City. In the shape of a giant cross, Krawczyk fabricated this large scale metallic cross to reflect and inspire, evoking a deeper understanding of humanity and community through altered reflections and environmental engagement.
With many corporate clients and being a part of massive national collections, Krawczyk finds the most joy in making art that lives in a fascinating environment, inside or outside, as long as it gets to interact with its surroundings in an interesting way.
The bright and shining visual aspects of the cubes, the smoke, and the text- based parabolas all attract, like a beautiful magnet, pulling us closer to the works by sheer force. However, it is the complex additional dimensions in his work that help viewers to see not only themselves more clearly, but to consider the world from another point of view, in turn adding introspection and engagement within the existence of the work as well.
SMOKE MIRRORS & PLANES opens on Saturday, May 21, 2016 with a reception from 6:00 to 8:00pm. The exhibition will remain on view until June 24, 2016.
Selected Commissions
2016 CMC Foods Inc, Fanwood, NJ New Jersey Devils, Newark, NJ 2015 Apple Inc / LinkedIn Campus, Sunnyvale, CA 333 Brannan Identity Sculpture, Kilroy Realty, SOMA / San Francisco, CA Percent for the Art's Public Commission, Agoura Hills, CA 2014 Percent for Public Art's Public Commission, Mountain View, CA San Francisco 49ers Stadium Commission, Santa Clara, CA 2013 Kilroy on Ice, Kilroy Realty, Bellevue, WA 2012 201 Identity Sculpture, Kilroy Realty, SOMA / San Francisco, CA 2010 303 Kilroy Three, Kilroy Realty, San Francisco, CA 9-11 Memorial Ground Zero, St Peters, New York, NY 2008 Hard Rock Hotel, San Diego, CA Trump Hotel, Las Vegas, NV Four Seasons Hotel, Washington, DC Four Seasons Hotel, St. Louis, MO Four Seasons Hotel, Half Moon Bay, CA Four Seasons Hotel, Mumbai, India Prudential Center, New Jersey Devils Stadium, Newark, NY 2006 Art & Public Space Percent for the Arts, Agoura Hills, CA 2005 Table Top Sculptures, MGM, CA Cross, Palm Desert, CA 2004 KPMG Warwick, New York, NY Deloitte & Touche, New York, NY 2003 Art Council of Brazos Valley, College Station, TX 2002 Homme Engineering Percent for the Arts, Palm Desert, CA Rosenblum Percent for the Arts, Palm Desert, CA 2002 Dale Poe Group Percent for the Arts, Agoura Hills, CA Deloitte & Touche, New York, NY 2001 The Westin Diplomat Hotel Lobby Fountain Project, Miami Beach, FL Texas A&M, State College, TX 2000 MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV Deloitte & Touche, New York, NY Rankserve, Newbury Park, CA AT & T Park, San Francisco, CA 1999 Cheesecake Factory, Calabasas, CA 1998 Squad, Chicago, IL 1997 By Design, Santa Monica, CA R/D, Torrance, CA Lumina Gallery Gate Project, Taos, MN Jamison Gold, Marina Del Ray, CA McKay Mobile, Reno, NV 1996 Widner College 175TH Anniversary, Philadelphia, PA
Publications
2016 Caldwell, Dave; "Fan's Statue Will Honor Martin Brodeur" New York Times, January 6 Miller, Randy; "Creator Of Marty Brodeur Statue Is A Jersey Born Devils Fan" Star Ledger, February 8 Proudfoot, Shannon; "Meet The Sculptor Responsible For Immortalizing Brodeur" February 8 Raskin, Alex; "The Art Of Immortalizing Martin Brodeur" February 8
2011 DiIonno, Mark; “Ground Zero Cross Headed Back To The World Trade Center Site” Huffington Post, April 6 Paumgarten, Nick; “All Together Now” The New Yorker, Sept 12 Rosenblum, Dan; “A Replacement For The Ground Zero Cross Is Installed At St. Peters Church, Quietly And Uncontroversial” Capital, August 12 Sisolak, Paul; “California Sculptor, Jon Krawczyk Creates 9/11 Cross For New York City” Malibu Times, May 23
2009 Davie, Audrey; “Slap Shot Sculpture Scores for Devils” Recorder Community Newspapers Devore, Kim; “Jon Krawczyk”, Malibu Times, Summer Read, Philip; “Hockey Sculpture Arrives at The Rock” The Star Ledger, August 18 th
2008 “Jon Krawczyk: The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of Grinding Steel,” THE Magazine, September Dambrot, Shana; “A Taste Of Malibu @ Jon Krawczyk’s Studio,” FLAVORPILL (on line), May 25 “The Valley’s New Vibe,” ENTRÉE MAGAZINE, Fall Di Ionno, Mark; “This ‘Devil’ Scores One For A Sculptor Fan And Newark,” THE STAR LEDGER, July 19 Devore, Kim; “Jon Krawczyk”, Malibu Times, Summer Downs, Maggie; “Jon Krawczyk Forms His Sculpted Vision,” THE DESERT SUN, March 30 “Local Sculptor Unveils Latest Creation,” MALIBU SURFSIDE NEWS, May 29 “Making Waves: NJ Devils Commission, Sculptor Jon Krawczyk ’88,” DELBARTON TODAY, Spring/Summer 2007 Clark, Erin; “Jon Krawczyk: Fire and Ice,” ARTWORKS, Winter 2005 WESTLAKE MAGAZINE, March 2003 DESIGN JOURNAL, January/February/March 2001 CONNECTICUT COLLEGE MAGAZINE, New London, CT 2000 REGION, College Station, TX 1999 DAILY BREEZE, Manhattan Beach, CA MANHATTAN ARTS INTERNATIONAL, New York, NY, July-August 1996 THE, Santa Fe, NM, June 1995 NEW YORK POST, New York, NY PASATIEMPO, Santa Fe, NM, April
Television Appearances
ESPN NBC MSG NY1 Staten Island 1 Fios 1 NBC News, New York Fox News Monster Garage Joan Quinn Chronicles MSG Network ESPN NHL Tonight