The Stanczak Color Quarterly celebrates seminal Op Artist and master colorist Julian Stanczak (1928–2017). Each issue features a work from Stanczak's oeuvre and a round-up of current and recent Stanczak exhibitions and press highlights. Plus, we offer a peek into the Stanczak Foundation archives. Read on for more.
Stanczak’s Succession, 1980–2013, emanates light.
Barbara Stanczak explains how Julian Stanczak carefully balanced 30 different colors to create the painting’s luminous effect and writes about why this work remains one of her favorites. In the essay, she details two enduring goals of Stanczak’s artistic practice: achieving “color melt-down” and “metamorphosis.”
“This painting just oozes the sensation of light and life. It does not depict or illustrate any specific light source or life—reminiscent forms, yet it is as if the sun itself were bouncing over the repeated squares.” —Barbara Stanczak on Succession, 1980–2013
Read the full essay here.
A new essay explores how Stanczak created the warm, radiant glow of Green Light, 1973. “In Green Light, neither shapes nor colorants fight for individual recognition; rather, they are all subservient to the filtration of warm light. ” —Barbara Stanczak on Green Light, 1973. Click to read the full essay.
Welcome back to the Stanczak Color Quarterly, the newsletter celebrating the work of seminal Op Artist and master colorist Julian Stanczak. Read on to discover more about Chase, 1976–77, and to learn more about recent Stanczak exhibitions and news. Chase shows four curving columns, divided into pairs of two. The pairs appear to be painted using two different sets of colors. However, within every column, Stanczak applied the same colors in the same order—with only one exception. In a new essay, Barbara Stanczak shares the colors used (showing the original color swatch) and details Julian Stanczak's method for effecting the dramatic visual color shifts we see on the canvas.
Welcome back to the Stanczak Color Quarterly, the newsletter celebrating the work of seminal Op Artist and master colorist Julian Stanczak. This issue features a 1998 work, Low Sound. At first glance, Low Sound appears to be painted in black and white. A closer look reveals the painting's predominant color to be purple (or, to be precise, two different purples). “Low Sound looks deceptively simple upon first encounter, but the longer the viewer spends with the painting, the more they experience a number of magical touches. ” —Barbara Stanczak on Low Sound
Welcome back to the Stanczak Color Quarterly, the newsletter celebrating the work of seminal Op Artist and master colorist Julian Stanczak. In this issue, we investigate a 2013 work to discern the number of colors used to create the distinctive Stanczak ‘glow.’ Read on to discover more; to hear about recent Stanczak exhibitions; and to see press coverage of the new Stanczak documentary. Plus, we highlight an exciting new international collaboration.
Welcome back to the Stanczak Color Quarterly, the newsletter celebrating the work of seminal Op Artist and master colorist Julian Stanczak. This issue presents three paintings that each use different means to hold our attention as they play with our perceptions of light and depth. While all three use a similar geometric structure, the colors on each canvas engender vastly different experiences for the observer. Read on to discover more about each work, view recent Stanczak exhibitions, and see press coverage—including a vintage clipping from the archives.
Welcome back to the Stanczak Color Quarterly. This newsletter celebrates the work of seminal Op-Artist Julian Stanczak, honoring his rigorous investigation—and enduring love—of color. We're happy to present this 2nd issue, which invites you to explore Brisk, 1980.
This newsletter celebrates the work of seminal Op-Artist Julian Stanczak, honoring his rigorous investigation—and enduring love—of color. Our inaugural issue invites you to enjoy his 16-panel constellation painting Complementaries = Yellow, 2007.
