September 2006

Press release
Contact: Anna Debecki
Tel. 773-486-9612
Fax 773-486-9613
e-mail: societyforarts@societyforarts.com

SCULPTURE MARVELS BY KAZIMIERZ KALKOWSKI

The Society for the Arts invites you to an exhibition of truly fascinating ceramic sculpture by Kazimierz Kalkowski (b. Poland, 1954). The Society will show nearly 30 works executed in recent years at the 1112 Gallery (1112 Milwaukee Ave in Chicago.)

"His art training was traditional, stressing discipline, which is perhaps why his work, like that of many contemporary Poles, shows exquisite skill and attention to detail".
- Fred Camper, Chicago Reader -

Kazimierz Kalkowski is an artist who makes worthy use of his talents, his inventiveness, and creative strive for supremacy, with his diligence. This diligence, so rarely (and most often ironically) mentioned as a feature of great artists, has in this particular case considerable, even fundamental, significance, because the medium of artistic expression which Kalkowski has selected demands titanically hard work.
Kalkowski does not want to impose interpretation upon us, yet forces us to contemplate habits, obsessions, fears and paranoias of the human race by providing us with an aesthetic and an emotional experience. The power of his sculpture is contained within a humanizing element of the expression. There is harmony between subject matter, medium and form, a fascination between a metaphysical layer with the principles of modern art and multi-layered narration.

As critics unanimously concur, Kalkowski is an artist of the grotesque, associated with Bosch, Bruegel, Goya, and Callot, when his work is defined. The existence of this aesthetic category is, undoubtedly, supported by centuries of human and cultural crisis. Yet, Kalkowski through laughter, familiarizes himself with the world, quiets anxiety and soothes tensions. The sculptor, like a Greek philosopher, asks curious passers questions which lead them to self-knowledge.

The exhibition will open Thursday, September 21, 2006, with the artist making personal appearance at the opening reception from 6 to 9 in the evening. The show continues until October 22, 2006.

The Gallery is open Tuesday through Sunday noon to 6 pm, or by appointment. For more information, please call the Society at (773) 486.9612