News/What's New

February 2012

Stay tuned for some exciting news about Jan Sawka’s collaboration on a project with a member of the former Grateful Dead band. In the meantime, take a walk back in time: There are more pictures than ever of the 25th Anniversary concert tour set here. This is also a good time to look back at Jan Sawka's large and highly political exhibition, "My Europe," that was in the International Arts Pavilion of the 1992 World Exposition in Seville, Spain. This installation was sponsored by none other than the Grateful Dead’s Rex Foundation. That same year, the Grateful Dead also sponsored the Olympic basketball team of the newly freed nation of Lithuania, about which a film (The Other Dream Team) just premiered at Sundance last month.

Currently on view: Jan Sawka’s “Haiti!” poster is part of the “Es geht UM die WELT: Internationale Plakate zu Natur und Umwelt” (About the World We Live In) exhibition at the KUNSTMUSEUM DIESELKRAFTWERK COTTBUS (DKW), Cottbus, Germany. Opening Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 11:00 AM. Click here for details on DKW website.

2010 - 2011 Recap

In May 2010, Jan Sawka unveiled the The Peace Monument at the International Poster Center in the Chelsea Arts District of New York. The event was co-sponsored by the International Poster Center, Temple of Understanding and ACA Galleries. The unveiling led to a number of Peace Monument-related events in 2011. Most notably, in February 2011, the New Hampshire Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) awarded Jan Sawka and Bart Sapeta “Excellence in Architecture” in the Unbuilt Category for the Peace Monument Complex.

Ashokan I left & Ashokan II right
Caleb Sloan (AIA Awards Committee Chair),
Bart Sapeta, Jan Sawka and Hanka Sawka

Jan Sawka and Bart Sapeta

Jan Sawka Exhibition Recap for 2011 and 2010

Spring of 2011 saw a “Celebration of Sawka” in the Hudson Valley. Utopian Direction (UD) of Warwick, NY hosted "Multimedia and Beyond" from April 9th to May 31st, 2011, along with an artist talk entitled “Sawka Speaks.” The UD show focused on Jan Sawka’s multimedia activities and his work with high-tech media. View exhibition here. Utopian Direction partnered with the Red Eft Gallery in Wurstboro, NY, which hosted the "Ashokan Views" Exhibition from April 2 to May 7, 2011. This exhibition featured a major painting installation called "Ashokan Views." "Ashokan Views" was inspired by one of the most beautiful locations in the Catskill Mountains – the Ashokan Reservoir, a huge artificial lake surrounded by the Catskill mountains. View exhibition here.

Resulting press included the article below (click here to enlarge):

Jan Sawka's cover art was part of forty pieces representing the Westways Cover Art Program at the Pasadena Museum of California Art (Click here for show information). Exhibition ran from December 2010 to February 27, 2011. Click here for the Los Angeles Time’s article about show, which featured Jan Sawka’s artwork on the cover of the “Art and Books” section on December 19th, 2010.

The Peace Monument, Jerusalem design was part of the exhibition of submissions for the American Institute of Architects "Excellence in Architecture" Awards at the New Hampshire Institute of Art in Manchester, N.H. This exhibition ran from December 7, 2010 to January 21, 2011.

Jan Sawka's "Book of Fiction" prints were a part of the "The Illustrious Mr. X" exhibition at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, New Paltz, New York from January 26, 2010 to July 17, 2011, click for details. Read a review of "The Illustrious Mr. X" by Paul Smart for Ulster Publishing's Almanac (review).

Jan Sawka opened “Homecoming: The International Art of Jan Sawka” in October 2010, at Mohonk Arts, in High Falls, New York. Works featured have been shown in places as diverse as Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates; Japan, the Hamptons, the American West and European cities. The exhibition included the Smart Glass “UMU” sculptures. The show can be viewed here.
Read a preview of “Homecoming” by Paul Smart of Ulster Publishing here.

Jan Sawka in 2011 Competitions

Jan Sawka's "HAITI!" charity poster participated in the 22nd Warsaw International Poster Biennial at the Poster Museum at Wilanów, which took place from 2-5 June 2010. In July 2011, the “Haiti!” poster was a finalist in the 18th Lahti Poster Biennial 2011, at the Lahti Art Museum/Poster Museum in Lahti, Finland. The "HAITI!" poster was sponsored by PZL (Link), a Polish advertising and marketing firm, in order to raise funds to aide earthquake victims and rebuilding efforts in Haiti.