Julian Stanczak (1928–2017)
Artforum, 03/28/2017

Julian Stanczak, a figurehead of the 1960s Op art movement, died at his home in Seven Hills, Ohio, on March 25, reports Alex Greenberger of Artnews. The artist’s paintings—sleek, scintillating, seductive, groovy—were said to have a “painterly expressiveness,” per Donald Judd, which made them stand out from other kinds of Op art production. Stanczak was featured in the seminal but critically maligned 1965 exhibition “The Responsive Eye,” a group show that attempted to make sense of Op’s currency and its historical precedents, organized by William C. Seitz at MoMA. Stanczak was born in Borownica, Poland. The artist and his family were made to work at a Siberian labor camp during World War II. It was there that he developed encephalitis, which profoundly damaged his right arm. When he started making art, he could only use his left arm. It did not, however, impede his progress, as he was a prodigious maker of technically sophisticated and formally dense images. The artist managed to flee the camp and traveled through the Middle East and South Asia. He spent some time living in Uganda—the vivid coloration of his paintings was inspired by the sunsets he saw there. He went to the Cleveland Institute of Art for his undergraduate degree and received his MFA from Yale, where he studied under Josef Albers. He also taught at the Cleveland Institute from 1964 until 1995—Dana Schutz and April Gornik were among his students.

Stanczak’s paintings are in the collections of New York’s MoMA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the San Francisco Museum of Art; the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC; the RISD Museum in Providence; the Milwaukee Art Museum; LACMA; and the Museo Tamayo and the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo in Mexico City, among other institutions. He has had exhibitions at many venues throughout the United States, including New York’s New Museum, Danese Gallery, and Mitchell-Innes & Nash (who represents the artist); the Cleveland Institute of Art; the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art in Malibu; the San Jose Museum of Art; the Columbus Museum of Art; and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo.

In a review of the artist’s exhibition at MoCA Cleveland for the December 2009 issue of Artforum, Christopher Bedford wrote, “There is a great deal of romance and heroism to be found in the relationship between Stanczak’s early life and the work he has chosen to make. And while that kind of biographical cache does not always serve an artist’s critical reception—romance and heroism are hardly the picks of today’s critical litter—it should here. An already powerful body of work is made only more so when coupled with a consideration of the man who produced it.”

Associated Artist

• Julian Stanczak

Associated News

• August 5, 2019
  ‘Optical Art’ to be shown at Fort Wayne Museum of Art
  Wane.com
  August 5, 2019
  Dirk Rowley
  


• April 8, 2019
  JULIAN STANCZAK
  The Lobby Gallery, 499 Park Avenue, New York
  On view through September 2019
  Reception: Tuesday, April 9, 5-7 pm
  
  


• March 26, 2019
  Rhythm, Rhythm, Everywhere
  Toledo City Paper, 03/26/2019
  Thena Cocoves
  
  


• July 28, 2018
  Unique art 'treasure hunt' spans dozens of Ohio venues
  The Blade, 07/28/2018
  Roberta Gedert
  
  


• July 12, 2018
  Cleveland Hopes to Become the Next Venice
  The Wall Street Journal, 07/12/2018
  Kelly Crow
  
  


• February 17, 2018
  Julian Stanczak
  Visual Art Source, 02/17/2018
  Amanda Malloy
  
  


• February 9, 2018
  Julian Stanczak at David Richard Gallery
  Santa Fe New Mexican
  Pasatiempo, 02/09/2018
  Michael Abatemarco
  
  


• February 8, 2018
  Love is in the Art
  Santa Fe Arts Journal, 02/08/2018
  Emily Van Cleve
  
  


• January 31, 2018
  Press Release - Julian Stanczak "Dynamic Fields"


• July 22, 2017
  FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art


• April 19, 2017
  Julian Stanczak’s Contribution to Cincinnati Art
  City Beat, 04/19/2017
  Steven Rosen
  
  


• April 11, 2017
  Julian Stanczak, Abstract Painter, Dies at 88
  New York Times, 04/11/2017
  Roberta Smith
  
  


• March 31, 2017
  Julian Stanczak on the Power of Red
  ArtInfo, 03/31/2017
  
  


• March 28, 2017
  Op Art Loses One of Its Leading Figures With Death of Julian Stanczak
  ArtNet News, 03/29/2017
  Perwana Nazif
  
  


• March 28, 2017
  Julian Stanczak, Central Figure of Op Art Movement, Dies at 88
  ArtNet News, 03/28/2017
  Alex Greenberger
  
  


• March 28, 2017
  Julian Stanczak (1928–2017)
  Artforum, 03/28/2017
  
  


• March 27, 2017
  Julian Stanczak, globally renowned Op artist based in Cleveland, has died at age 88
  Cleveland.com, 03/25/2017
  Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer
  
  


• December 16, 2015
  Julian Stanczak Op Art paintings smash local price ceiling and rocket nationally
  Cleveland.com, 12/16/2015
  Steven Litt
  
  


• January 29, 2015
  Color Color' evokes harmony between two disparate mediums
  The New Record, 01/29/2015
  Christina Drobney
  
  


• December 15, 2014
  'Color Color' at the Cincinnati Art Museum showcases digital prints and poetry
  ArtDaily.org, 12/15/2014
  
  


• March 3, 2014
  Press Release - Julian Stanczak "Lineal Pathways"


• February 23, 2014
  1969 Cleveland Arts Prize for Visual Arts
  


• April 30, 2013
  JULIAN STANCZAK
  COLOR WONDER
  Cleveland Magazine, May 2013
  
  


• April 8, 2013
  AKRON ART MUSEUM
  Line Color Illusion: 40 Years of Julian Stanczak
  Apr 13, 2013 - Nov 3, 2013
  


• October 16, 2012
  THE MARKET'S HOTTEST ARTISTS
  Bloomberg.com, 10/16/2012
  Ben Steverman
  
  


• May 1, 2012
  An Interview with Artist Julian Stanczak
  GeoForm, May 2012
  Julie Karabenick
  
  


• May 1, 2012
  An Interview with Artist Julian Stanczak
  GeoForm, May 2012
  Julie Karabenick
  
  


• December 13, 2011
  JULIAN STANCZAK: GREAT COLORIST OF THE 20TH CENTURY
  Cleveland Institute of Art, 12/13/2011
  
  


• November 6, 2011
  Cleveland Institute of Art touts its own history in shows on Robert Mangold, Julian Stanczak and Ed Mieczkowski
  Cleveland.com, 11/06/2011
  Steven Litt
  
  


• September 21, 2011
  CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART OPTICAL ART EXHIBIT A TEST FOR THE EYES
  WEWS, 09/21/2011
  
  


• August 23, 2011
  Press Release - Julian Stanczak "Tactile See Through"


• November 1, 2010
  The New Criterion review of "Julian Stanczak: Color - Grid"
  Gallery Chronicle, November 2010
  James Panero