Posted 7 years ago
pamelacarg…
(41 items)
Poster 14 x 22 Mint ; Artist: JAN SAWKA
In 1946, (JAN SAWKA) Sawka was born to an architect father and linguist mother, Jan and Maria Sawka, in the Silesian city of Zabrze. His childhood was overshadowed by his father's Stalin-era political imprisonment. Sawka completed two master's degrees; in painting and print-making from the Wroc?aw Fine Arts Academy and in Architectural Engineering from the Institute of Technology in Wroc?aw. By his late 20s, Sawka was a star of the famed Polish Poster School and a leading artist of the counter-culture. His oppositionist activities lead to his exile in 1976. After 1977, he resided in New York, becoming part of the American cultural mainstream. Early in his time in the United States, Sawka created editorial drawings for the New York Times, while developing a multi-faceted career that encompassed printmaking, painting, sculpture, and theater design. Numerous galleries have exhibited his paintings and prints, and he has designed for such theaters as the Harold Clurman, Jean Cocteau Repertory and Samuel Beckett Theater. Sawka's works are in over 60 museums around the world and he has had over 70 solo shows at international museums and galleries. His awards have included the 1975 Oscar de la Peinture in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France for painting and the Gold Medal at the 1978 Warsaw Poster Biennial. In 1981, when martial law was imposed in Poland, the AFL-CIO sponsored a bipartisan fundraiser that sold Sawka's Solidarity poster in the millions to provide immediate support to the besieged Solidarity movement. In 1989, Sawka designed a 10-story tall set for The Grateful Dead's 25th Anniversary tour. In 1993, he created his first full multi-media spectacle, "The Eyes" in Japan. This was the beginning of his collaboration with Japanese studios and corporations, which includes the creation of high-tech interactive sculptures and monumental installations, as well as designs for full-scale monumental architecture. Sawka designed "The Tower of Light Cultural Complex" for Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., presented to the Royal Family in 1996. A pilot version of "The Voyage", a full-length multimedia spectacle, won the Gold Medal in Multi-Media at the 2003 Florence Contemporary Art Biennial. He is represented ACA Galleries in New York's Chelsea arts district.
On August 9, 2012, Sawka died of a heart attack in his home in High Falls, New York.[1] He was 65. At the time of his death the artist was focused on completing the feature-length, final version of "Voyage."
*** NOTE: There is a lot of information about the Samuel Beckett and his works, as well as the actors in his productions.
I was able to find some Reference/ Provenance information:
University of Delaware Library
"Endgame. Cherry Lane Theatre (New York), 1984. Poster by Jan Sawka.
Gift of Sir Joseph Gold"