Barbara Januszkiewicz
Encyclopedia
Barbara Morrison Januszkiewicz (born February 23, 1955) is an American
painter, multi-media artist and filmmaker. She specializes in watercolor painting in a hybrid style – 'realism handled in a impressionist manner'. Her artwork has appeared predominantly in the Washington, D.C.
, area, including the Phillips Collection
, Corcoran Gallery of Art
, Gallery K and The Art League. Her works can also be found in feature magazines, films, cable and international television formats. Januszkiewicz is the founder of "Art in the Heart", grant programs for the promotion of the arts in the community, 1999.She is on the staff of the Corcoran Gallery of Art
, and lives in Arlington, Virginia.
Another documentary was filmed in The Kreeger Museum in Washington DC, called Remembering The Present in July 2000. This showcased an exhibition that would be part of The Kreeger Museum’s citywide initiative, DC Citypiece: Monuments at the Millennium. Jack Rasmussen, curator of this show, said "The proposals exhibited in Remembering the Present had to meet only two criteria: quality and relevance.The artists were not asked to memorialize the past because the past isn't what it used to be (and never was) and the “universal” is as changeable as the past, a matter of perspective, not truth. Artists cannot escape the present, any more then their patrons. Remembering the Present takes advantage of this fact, asking artists to communicate the present thorough their ability to create relevant cultural metaphors."
The most controversial of all the Creative Vision television documentaries that Januszkiewicz produced was a traveling roadshow from Boston called The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA). This was the world's only museum dedicated to the collection, preservation, exhibition and celebration of bad art in all its forms. Since 1994, the Museum of Bad Art
has been dedicated to bring the worst of art to the widest of audiences. Januszkiewicz saw the opportunity to show the satire of the whole thing. The documentary captured pseudo art patrons as they attended the gallery opening. One would think that remarks that were filmed would be based on sarcasm and mocking the art. Unexpectedly, the exhibit captured the attention of the media and brought in more visitors to the show. The ironic nature of the show seems to be lost on most of the attendees. The Creative Vision documentary captured raw conversations of people mesmerized by the artwork. The MOBA founders were criticized for being anti-art, but they deny this by stating that its collection is a tribute to artists who persevered with their art despite something going horribly wrong in the process. Deborah Solomon
, in The New York Times Magazine
, asserted that MOBA's success reflects a trend in modern art among artists and audiences. MOBA has been used in academic studies as a standard of reference for the spectacularly awful. In one such study, published in Perspectives on Psychological Science, researchers asking about how one feels about bad art. This documentary MOBA was broadcast on public access cable television for over 8 years straight, again a testimony to the mockery that bad art get more respect then fine art, Januszkiewicz explains.
After only completing her first three documentaries out of 20 she won producer of the year with Arlington Independent Media. Creative Vision TV for the Arts was remixed in 2010 to help show the many creative activists, who are using art outreach to create positive change in the world.
under the Chinese master Mun Quan
, a traditional watercolorist whose influence can be seen in her simple Zen landscapes and in her wet and controlled technique. Over time, this artistic expression evolved into her signature “fusion” style of painting.
The influence of avant-garde artists including Andy Warhol
, Roy Lichtenstein
, Robert Rauschenberg
, and others can be seen in Januszkiewicz’s choice of subject matter depicting everyday Americanism. Much like a classical performer embraces a range of styles, her compositions are inspired by scenes ranging from crowded city streets to close-ups of coffee and donuts and cafeteria foods to bicycle spokes and Ferris wheels. She paints mostly from memory to reflect on the relationship of pure, fresh color and design, resulting in a feeling of nostalgia while staying on the edge of realism.
. The Jazz Vision Trio was formed with Januszkiewicz along with legendary jazz masters Dave Liebman
and Jean-Marrie Machado.Barbara Januszkiewicz as a (painter/ filmaker jazz installation performance artist) takes risk in many of her projects adding to the avant-garde feeling with new media.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
painter, multi-media artist and filmmaker. She specializes in watercolor painting in a hybrid style – 'realism handled in a impressionist manner'. Her artwork has appeared predominantly in the Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, area, including the Phillips Collection
Phillips Collection
The Phillips Collection is an art museum founded by Duncan Phillips in 1921 as the Phillips Memorial Gallery located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Phillips was the grandson of James H...
, Corcoran Gallery of Art
Corcoran Gallery of Art
The Corcoran Gallery of Art is the largest privately supported cultural institution in Washington, DC. The museum's main focus is American art. The permanent collection includes works by Rembrandt, Eugène Delacroix, Edgar Degas, Thomas Gainsborough, John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, Pablo...
, Gallery K and The Art League. Her works can also be found in feature magazines, films, cable and international television formats. Januszkiewicz is the founder of "Art in the Heart", grant programs for the promotion of the arts in the community, 1999.She is on the staff of the Corcoran Gallery of Art
Corcoran Gallery of Art
The Corcoran Gallery of Art is the largest privately supported cultural institution in Washington, DC. The museum's main focus is American art. The permanent collection includes works by Rembrandt, Eugène Delacroix, Edgar Degas, Thomas Gainsborough, John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, Pablo...
, and lives in Arlington, Virginia.
Film maker
In 1997 Januszkiewicz started a public-access television series showcasing artists and their works from the greater Washington Metropolitan Area Creative Vision Television for the Arts. Key documentaries include Hilda Thorpe, in her own words a documentary of an independent-spirited member of the Washington color school, Thorpe being one of the only women to be part of this avant-garde school which use color to united all the artists. ..See text, Washington Review Volume XXV1 No.1 June/July 2000.Another documentary was filmed in The Kreeger Museum in Washington DC, called Remembering The Present in July 2000. This showcased an exhibition that would be part of The Kreeger Museum’s citywide initiative, DC Citypiece: Monuments at the Millennium. Jack Rasmussen, curator of this show, said "The proposals exhibited in Remembering the Present had to meet only two criteria: quality and relevance.The artists were not asked to memorialize the past because the past isn't what it used to be (and never was) and the “universal” is as changeable as the past, a matter of perspective, not truth. Artists cannot escape the present, any more then their patrons. Remembering the Present takes advantage of this fact, asking artists to communicate the present thorough their ability to create relevant cultural metaphors."
The most controversial of all the Creative Vision television documentaries that Januszkiewicz produced was a traveling roadshow from Boston called The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA). This was the world's only museum dedicated to the collection, preservation, exhibition and celebration of bad art in all its forms. Since 1994, the Museum of Bad Art
Museum of Bad Art
The Museum of Bad Art is a privately owned museum whose stated aim is "to celebrate the labor of artists whose work would be displayed and appreciated in no other forum". It has two branches, one in Dedham, Massachusetts, and the other in nearby Somerville...
has been dedicated to bring the worst of art to the widest of audiences. Januszkiewicz saw the opportunity to show the satire of the whole thing. The documentary captured pseudo art patrons as they attended the gallery opening. One would think that remarks that were filmed would be based on sarcasm and mocking the art. Unexpectedly, the exhibit captured the attention of the media and brought in more visitors to the show. The ironic nature of the show seems to be lost on most of the attendees. The Creative Vision documentary captured raw conversations of people mesmerized by the artwork. The MOBA founders were criticized for being anti-art, but they deny this by stating that its collection is a tribute to artists who persevered with their art despite something going horribly wrong in the process. Deborah Solomon
Deborah Solomon
Deborah Solomon is an American art critic, journalist and biographer. She is best-known for her weekly column, "Questions For," which ran in The New York Times Magazine from 2003 to 2011.-Early life and education:...
, in The New York Times Magazine
The New York Times Magazine
The New York Times Magazine is a Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of The New York Times. It is host to feature articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors...
, asserted that MOBA's success reflects a trend in modern art among artists and audiences. MOBA has been used in academic studies as a standard of reference for the spectacularly awful. In one such study, published in Perspectives on Psychological Science, researchers asking about how one feels about bad art. This documentary MOBA was broadcast on public access cable television for over 8 years straight, again a testimony to the mockery that bad art get more respect then fine art, Januszkiewicz explains.
After only completing her first three documentaries out of 20 she won producer of the year with Arlington Independent Media. Creative Vision TV for the Arts was remixed in 2010 to help show the many creative activists, who are using art outreach to create positive change in the world.
History
Art: Since her emergence as a contemporary Pop artist in the early 1990s, Januszkiewicz has been a multi-media artist, filmmaker, visual journalist, and teacher. Januszkiewicz trained formally in the mid 1970's at Jacksonville UniversityJacksonville University
Jacksonville University is a private university in Jacksonville, Florida, on the banks of the St. Johns River. The school was founded in 1934 as a two year college and was known as Jacksonville Junior College until 1958, when it shifted its focus to four-year university degrees and adopted its...
under the Chinese master Mun Quan
Mun Quan
Mun S. Quan was a landscape painter in the Chinese tradition and a professor and medical scientist at the Florida State Board of Health. He was born in 1917 in Canton, China and his family settled in Jacksonville, Florida in 1926...
, a traditional watercolorist whose influence can be seen in her simple Zen landscapes and in her wet and controlled technique. Over time, this artistic expression evolved into her signature “fusion” style of painting.
The influence of avant-garde artists including Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
, Roy Lichtenstein
Roy Lichtenstein
Roy Lichtenstein was a prominent American pop artist. During the 1960s his paintings were exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City and along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, James Rosenquist and others he became a leading figure in the new art movement...
, Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg was an American artist who came to prominence in the 1950s transition from Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art. Rauschenberg is well-known for his "Combines" of the 1950s, in which non-traditional materials and objects were employed in innovative combinations...
, and others can be seen in Januszkiewicz’s choice of subject matter depicting everyday Americanism. Much like a classical performer embraces a range of styles, her compositions are inspired by scenes ranging from crowded city streets to close-ups of coffee and donuts and cafeteria foods to bicycle spokes and Ferris wheels. She paints mostly from memory to reflect on the relationship of pure, fresh color and design, resulting in a feeling of nostalgia while staying on the edge of realism.
Happenings
Januszkiewicz found inspiration during the summer of 2010 she spent in Paris reconnecting with her passion for jazz music and seeing her art in musical terms. In her latest works she captures movement and expression with optical illusions and bright hues. Her series of musical notations is based on jazz elements with a geometric and color fixation. These compositions gradually become more structured in a series of musical notations while keeping a loose and flowing touch. This latest fusion of jazz and painting has infused Januszkiewicz’s work with a rhythm and flow that addresses a new media form and opens new dialogues with other creative art forms and artists, like a revamping of happenings from the 60s60s
-Significant people:* Boudicca, rebellious British queen* Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, Roman general* Julius Civilis, leader of the Batavian rebellion against the Romans...
. The Jazz Vision Trio was formed with Januszkiewicz along with legendary jazz masters Dave Liebman
Dave Liebman
Dave Liebman is an American saxophonist and flautist. In June 2010, he received a NEA Jazz Masters lifetime achievement award from the National Endowment for the Arts.-Biography:...
and Jean-Marrie Machado.Barbara Januszkiewicz as a (painter/ filmaker jazz installation performance artist) takes risk in many of her projects adding to the avant-garde feeling with new media.
New media
This latest fusion of jazz and painting in Januszkiewicz's work shows nonconventional interpretations of movement, art and music. The American Jazz Museum has recognized this artist's energy and her innovation new media projects and her commitment and using multimedia platforms or transmedia for artistic excellence. Because of this she is now working on collaborative programs with this prestigious organization. In addition she has also been invited to collaborate with some of the finest avant-garde jazz musicians as a visual artist.,NYC Jazz pianist, Matthew Shipp, Januszkiewicz are working on a collaborative conceptual avant garde project film called The Composer.External links
- Official website
- Jazz Vision Trio official website
- official website The Composer.info
- Portfolio at ArtFile Online
- http://www.moxievision.info
- http://www.idealist.org:/view/org/Kb6sbkk9TFsP/
- http://www.absolutearts.com/artsnews/2002/07/05/30077.html
- http://www.absolutearts.com/artsnews/2000/07/20/27236.html
- http://208.118.171.20/artistpages/artistviewer.asp?user=barbara
- http://www.kreegermuseum.org/programs/citypiece.asp