chashama Exhibits Highly Distinguished Poland-based Artist for the First Time in New York City

NEW YORK - Sept. 4, 2013 - PRLog -- Opening reception: Thursday, September 19, 2013, 7-9pm

chashama, 210 East 43^rd Street between 2^nd and 3^rd Ave.

On view: September 19 – October 3, 2013

Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 12pm-6pm

New York, NY – August 14, 2013 – Konrad Jarodzki (b. 1927, Zaklików, Poland) is one of the foremost international artists of our time.  Creating works since the 1950s, Jarodzki’s paintings and drawings reflect his constant pursuit of space and form - its relations to each other as a manifestation of human existence - both physical and spiritual.

chashama is pleased to present Jarodzki’s work, which will be his first solo show in the United States. On display will be works centered on space, movement, and light, while revealing the artist’s commitment to “pure technique” – using only paintbrush, spatula, and canvas. Each work has a unique quality of drawing the viewers into the spatial plane of the canvas through color gradation, organic growth of soft forms, and the illusion of light. Many of his works are reflective of deeply experienced events – the destruction of Wroclaw after WWII, destruction of Turoszow, and the aftermath of September 11, 2001.

The exhibition will take place in East Midtown, at a space provided by chashama, a NYC-based arts non-profit. chashama, which means "to have vision" in Farsi, transforms underutilized real estate into affordable creative work and presentation spaces.

By exhibiting the works of Konrad Jarodzki, chashama is achieving several milestones: providing Jarodzki with his first solo show in New York City, extending chashama's impact on serving international artists, and bridging the gap between New York and Wroclaw, Poland's cultural community.

About Konrad Jarodzki:

Konrad Jarodzki (b. 1927, Zaklików, Poland) graduated from the Wroclaw University of Technology in Architecture and received a diploma in painting from the Wroclaw State College of Fine Arts (now Academy of Fine Arts) from 1949-1958.

In the late 1950s he landed a position working as an architect for the Wroclaw city office, rebuilding Wroclaw from ruins after World War II. In the late 1960s he performed lectures at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw and eventually became a Professor through the early 1970s.

When the authoritarian government of the People’s Republic of Poland instituted “Martial Law” in December 1981 to prevent political rebellion by restricting civil liberties, Konrad was arrested and spent a winter in a prison with other members of faculty. Released in March 1982, Konrad continued his career as a Dean at the Wroclaw Academy of Fine Arts. An advocate of freedom of expression, he was elected as a Rector (Head) of the Academy in 1984, though never officiated by the government. Demoted, he continued to give lectures at the Academy. In 1993, Jarodzki was voted as the Rector of the Academy in the free elections and remained on the post for two terms, retiring in 1999.

Jarodzki has organized numerous exhibits in Wroclaw, Poland and abroad and has received numerous awards from local, national and international organizations. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Culture Activist Medal (1972) and the Golden Cross of Merit.

His entire family consist of architects and artists in Wroclaw. His daughter and her husband and son run a very successful development company - Archicom, that employs over 150 people and build numerous office buildings, residential communities, hotels, banks - always with art in mind.