ACA Galleries, New York, 2004
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Preview Opening: from left, Youshi Matsuda, Hiroo Nakatani, Ambassador Ando, Mineo Mori, Hanka Sawka, Jan Sawka
Curated by the artist, this exhibition was the culmination of ten years of Jan Sawka's collaborations with The Sawka Team, a group of international scientists, technicians and organizations. Sawka Team members who helped to prepare and who attended the openings included Sawka Team founder and head, the now-late Hiroo Nakatani, designer and architect Mineo Mori, engineer Masayuki Kondo of Nippon Sheet Glass Company, electronics and electrical engineering specialist Youshi Matsuda, electronic communications expert Andrew Milmoe, and Sawka Team Director of Communications Dr. Frank V. Boyer.
The exhibition took place in the ACA exhibition space and in the adjacent Scoto Galleries, to allow more space for a show of this scope.
The exhibition featured models and documentation for Sawka Team projects such as The Tower of Light, (an obelisk to be erected in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates), The Essen Spires (an installation consisting of four obelisks to be erected in Essen, Germany), and The Peace Monument for Jerusalem. Thanks to the generosity of His Highness Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayid Al Nahyan, a scale model of the central area of the Tower of Light cultural center, featuring UMU obelisk, was sent to ACA Galleries from Abu Dhabi. This was the first time that the model could be viewed outside of the United Arab Emirates.
Foreground: On loan from the Royal Family of Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., the "Tower of Light" scale model. Background, from left: Sunset painting, Sun Tower UMU sculpture, Cocoon Sculpture
Four interactive sculptures using a specialized phosphorescent glass (UMU glass) were showcased for the first time in the United States. These sculptures use the same technology as in Mr. Sawka’s architectural projects. UMU Sculptures combine drawing and painting within a form built from UMU glass, a type of material that transforms in the opacity and the color of the lighting of the glass when an electrical current is run through it. Thus, the drawn and painted images progressively “swim” into view out of a changing color field of glowing glass, endowing them with a time element. This use of the material is exclusive to Mr. Sawka, who has been chosen by Nippon Sheet Glass to showcase the special properties of UMU glass. To view animations of UMU sculptures that were featured at “Into the Open,” click here.
The exhibition also featured the first ever unveiling of three unique
sets of one-of-a-kind Jan Sawka Art
Jewelery©, which was executed by Jiron Jewellery, Inc. of Tokyo,
Japan. Jiron president and master goldsmith Tadashi Takahashi, who personally
crafted the jewelry based on Mr. Sawka’s designs, was present during
the preparation of and openings of Into the Open.
The Book of Fiction (a set of 25 dry point engravings created
in 1985), a folio of which is housed in the Library of Congress, was on
display, along with a generous selection of large and medium sized paintings,
prints, and sculptures. A number of the more traditional-media works reflected
the artistic journey that lead Mr. Sawka to create the UMU sculptures.
Andrew Milmoe created a video presentation that showcased Mr. Sawka’s
past multi-media projects, including The
Eyes visual theater and concert sets for the Grateful Dead and
Traffic and projects that are in progress, such as the Tower of Light
and the multi-media spectacles The Voyage and Creation.
Left: UMU Cube #4, right: Sun Tower UMU sculpture
The large-scale visual presentation and digital video presentation of The Voyage that were on display in the multi-media room of the exhibition were together awarded the Premio di Lorenzo Il Magnifico Gold Medal in Multimedia in 2003 at the 4th International Biennial of Contemporary Art in Florence, Italy.
A preview opening of Into the Open took place on June 17, 2004, which
was attended by His Excellency Hiroyasu Ando, Ambassador and Consul
General of Japan in New York, legendary English theater director and
critic John Russell Brown, the American investors in the UMU sculptures
Ursula Cernuschi and Shining Sung, many artists, and friends and family
of Jan Sawka.
The exhibition’s main opening took place on June 19, 2004. In
collaboration with Andrew Milmoe, Walking Productions filmed a live-webcast,
which viewers were able to enjoy simultaneously online anywhere in the
world. A tele-journalist reported on the event using streaming audio
and video (audio and video over the internet) and directly responded
to viewers comments, questions and suggestions. Viewers anywhere in
the world who had internet connectivity were able to log on to the event
website, view the live video stream, chat amongst each-other and participate
in the live event by sending text directly to the "tele-journalist."
Gallery 1
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Gallery 2
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