Paula Kloczkowski Luberda ~ The Art of Human Rights

Above: "Connected", stoneware, 12" diameter
Christy Tyler Photograph

Paula Kloczkowski Luberda was just one of the 23 Artists presenting work at The Art of Human Rights" event. The amazing collection of work was presented at the 2,500 square foot, Coalition Gallery in the west Loop on March 9th, 10th and 11th. The event raised more than $85,000.

Presenting both paintings and stoneware sculpture, Kloczkowski Luberda's work focuses its content on humanity. She explains...

Connected. “United, joined, or linked.” I seek to create connections in my work through color, pattern, concepts, and materials. I strive to create a bond between the viewer and the paintings or sculpture… to unite them into a common understanding of our humanity. It is important for us to see, visually and spiritually, what the human race has in common and how we connect.

These artworks reflect the ties between others and ourselves. We are a part of a global society. These pieces invite the observer to contemplate moments and events. My choice of abstract human forms is intentional in order for the viewer to see the similarity of mankind and not get caught in reflecting or comparing various segments of society, but instead see it in its entirety.

Paula Kloczkowski Luberda

Christy Tyler Photograph

Additional images from The Art of Human Rights event, as well as information about the work that Heartland Alliance does, can be found at: artofhumanrights.com

Paula Kloczkowski Luberda is an established artist who has been widely exhibited for more than two decades. Her work has been shown internationally at the Ceramics Biennale in Gautang, South Africa, and nationally at Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, California; Center for Emerging Art, Miami, Florida; George A. Spiva Center for the Arts, Joplin, Missouri; Texas Artists Museum, Port Arthur Texas, and Salisbury State University, Salisbury, Massachusetts to highlight a few. Regionally her work was shown at the Rockford Art Museum, the Evansville Art Museum, Indiana, Indiana University, the University of Wisconsin, North Central College, The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago, Highland Park Art Center, and Harper College.
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The Art of Human Rights ~ The Event

Last weekend was a blur. After six months of planning, “The Art of Human Rights” had finally arrived. The three-day event began on Friday night with an Exclusive Preview Reception for the exhibiting artist’s private collectors. The main event—complete with gourmet hors d'oeuvres, live auction and live music—was held on Saturday evening and the weekend concluded with an intimate “coffee with the artists” on Sunday morning.

More than $85,000 was raised at this year’s event to benefit Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights. Heartland Alliance believes that everyone deserves to have a roof over their heads, access to health care, the opportunity to earn income to support themselves and their families, and to be treated fairly and with justice.

The event included work by twenty-three artists. They were Christopher Andres, John Benedetto, Jenny Chi, Audry Cramblit, Jane Fulton Alt, Sheila Ganch, Andrea Harris, Paula Kloczkowski Luberda, Deanna Krueger, Roland Kulla, Richard Laurent, Maggie Meiners, Rebecca Moy, Didier Nolet, Nancy Pirri, Ted Preuss, Nancy Rosen, Valerie Schiff, Tom Torluemke, Francine Turk, Michael Van Zeyl, John Vlahakis and myself.

Audry Cramblit presents “Paris”, a 24 inch tall clay sculpture, to a group of interested patrons.


Photographs by Christy Tyler

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Ken Konchel ~ Gallery 180

Ken Konchel, Serpentine

Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago presents the black and white, architectural photography of St. Louis Artist, Ken Konchel. His abstracted imagery presents an alternative view of the man-made structures that surround us. Konchel explores his surroundings and—through composition, light and line—presents exciting imagery that defines the expressive power of buildings. For Konchel, a successful image removes the context and distills architecture to nothing but relationships of shape, line, pattern, detail, tonality, and/or surface. Konchel explains:

“Architecture forms the physical environment of our lives. It connects us to the past, it helps define our relationships to one another, and it gives us a sense of place and identity. Architecture also embodies our values and expresses our individual and collective aspirations. And most importantly, architecture enhances and advances our creative legacy. Yet something so integral to the sense of who we are—something that contributes immeasurably to our quality of life—is often dismissed as mundane, taken for granted, or at worst ignored. My ambition is to raise awareness of, and appreciation for, architecture by presenting it as engaging and dynamic geometric arrangements and interactions.”

The photography of Ken Konchel will be presented at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago through May 3. An Opening Reception will take place on Friday, March 16 from 5:30-7:30 pm. This exhibition is free and open to the public. All works are available for purchase. Gallery 180 is located at 180 N. Wabash—at the corner of Lake and Wabash—in Chicago’s Loop. The gallery is open Monday through Thursday from 8am-8pm, Friday 8am-5:30pm and Saturday 9am-5pm. Additional information can be found at gallery180.com.

Additional imagery can be found on Konchels website at: kenkonchelphoto.com

Ken Konchel has won 67 awards including second place at the Photo 2009 Black & White Classic Juried Photography Show at Brush Art Gallery & Studios in Lowell, Massachusetts, best of show at the Birmingham, Michigan Art in the Park, second place in photography at The Sausalito Art Fair, first place in photography at the Armonk New York Outdoor Art Fair, award winner at the Milwaukee Lakefront Festival of Arts, best of two dimensional media at the Chicago Old Town Art Fair, award winner at The Kansas City Artists Coalition’s River Market Regional Exhibition, first place at the Denver Cherry Creek Arts Festival, and award winner at the Kansas City Plaza Art Fair.

His work has been reviewed or cited in the Chicago Newcity Art Magazine, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on twelve occasions, the St. Louis Riverfront Times on four occasions, and the Kansas City Star on three occasions. His photography has been included in the books St. Louis Seen and Unseen, St. Louis: Landmarks & Historic Districts, and St. Louis for the Record.
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The Art of Human Rights ~ March 10

Francine Turk, “Francesca”, mixed media including antique French ledger, oil stick, lacquer ink and charcoal, 65” x 52”


On Saturday, March 10th from 7-10pm, Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights will present “The Art of Human Rights,” an invitational exhibition featuring silent and live auctions with wine, gourmet fare, and live music. The event, taking place in the 2,500 square foot Coalition Gallery at 217 N. Carpenter Street [west loop], presents; paintings, drawings, photography and sculpture created by twenty-four hand-selected, established fine artists. The commissions from the work sold—priced from $400 to $18,000—will directly benefit the charity. Funds raised through The Art of Human Rights will support the work that Heartland Alliance does to ensure that everyone has a roof over their head, access to health care, the opportunity to earn income to support themselves and their families, and to be treated fairly and with justice.

The exhibition—which I curated—has something for everyone. With a variety of imagery and objects available—whether it is an elegant object to finish a room, or a room-defining statement—this exhibition presents amazing pieces of thought-provoking Fine Art.

Included in this exhibition, is the work of fine art sensation, Francine Turk. Her piece [above], “Francesca”—a large scale, figurative, mixed-media work—is classic Turk. This elegant reclining female nude is created with the used of graceful contour line. Francesca redefines space and transforms the well-known subject into an exploration of emotion and passion. The work is created with a mixture of media, including antique French ledger, oil stick, lacquer ink and charcoal. Pieces from this body of work are testaments of timeless elegance.

John Vlahakis, “Monet”, photograph, edition of 5, 30” x 30”

Photographer, John Vlahakis, captures the drama and beauty of the natural world. The brilliantly colorful floral images—which are almost abstract—explore light and define a quiet moment in time. Vlahakis points out that… “Visually I am drawn by the color and light that each living organism reflects...”

Roland Kulla, “Legget II”, acrylic on canvas, 60” x 40”

Roland Kulla presents a series of hyper-realistic paintings defining segments of various bridges. Kulla explains:

“I’ve used bridges as my primary inspiration for the last twenty years. Based in Chicago, I began my exploration with the world’s largest collection of bascule bridges. In 2006, I began to branch out to other “bridge cities” including Boston, New York City, and Pittsburgh. In 2011, I explored the bridges in Berlin, Germany.

I select certain design elements and eliminate background context in order to emphasize form. What may appear to be a random arrangement of bolts and rivets has, on close inspection, a rigidly patterned logic. Abstracted from their surroundings, the bridges take on new aspects. Some look dangerous, others elegant. The forms are presented in “natural” bridge colors in bold contrast to the voids that they span. They float in light that plays across the surface details. I paint an idealized version of reality on a scale that allows the viewer to enter into the structure and appreciate the monumentality of the form.”

Audry Cramblit, “Paris”, clay / work in progress, 24” tall

Audry Cramblit is one of seven incredibly talented sculptors included in the exhibition. Cramblit presents a variety of work, two in bronze and another in clay. “Paris”, a twenty-four inch high figurative clay sculpture, is an obvious focal point in the exhibition. The tactile figure is adorned with the layering of contemporary designs, symbols and words, forming a complex surface of information. Through the experimentation of materials, Cramblit has developed techniques as unique and varied as her one-of-a-kind sculptures.

There are twenty-four exhibiting artists in “The Art of Human Rights” exhibition. They are: Christopher Andres, John Benedetto, Jenny Chi, Audry Cramblit, Jane Fulton Alt, Sheila Ganch, Charles Gniech, Andrea Harris, Vesna Jovanovic, Paula Kloczkowski Luberda, Deanna Krueger, Roland Kulla, Richard Laurent, Maggie Meiners, Rebecca Moy, Didier Nolet, Nancy Pirri, Ted Preuss, Nancy Rosen, Valerie Schiff, Tom Torluemke, Francine Turk, Michael Van Zeyl, and John Vlahakis.

On Saturday, March 10th from 7-10pm, The Art of Human Rights will be presented at the Coalition Gallery, located at 217 N. Carpenter Street in Chicago. Work sold at this Fine Art exhibition will benefit Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights. Tickets are $125 in advance and $150 at the door. Tickets may be purchased on line at artofhumanrights.com or by calling Michelle Marvin at 312.660.1339.
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human ~ Adrian Cox

The average snowfall in a Chicago winter is 38”. We had eight of those inches on Friday, January 20th …. the night of the opening reception of the human exhibition at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago. Surprisingly, the reception was jam-packed. Artists and patrons had driven for up to five hours—over snow-covered highways—for a look at this collection. Two of the Artists from St. Louis even attended.

“human” is a national juried exhibition with the commissions from the sale of work to benefit Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights. The show is comprised of work by twenty artists from around the country. Recently, I was asked if there is a common thread that ties the work together. The obvious answer is that the work relates to the human form or the human condition. But after thinking about the question for a minute another response emerged. The work—ranging from strangely grotesque to classically beautiful—seems to be about the unconscious. The images seem to reference how we perceive the human condition while we sleep. Dreams and nightmares are the common subject of the work contained in “human”.

One of the twisted—nightmarish—pieces that I was enthralled with when selecting the exhibition, was an untitled painting by Adrian Cox [above]. Cox refers to the figures presented in this recent body of work as “…horrific, violating every natural state as their borders undergo deformation… …intended to mitigate reactions of fear and disgust.” And I’m intrigued. Below is another sample from the new series. This small piece, titled "Coagulation", seems to be a highly distorted self portrait. The image makes subtle visual reference to the artist's physical appearance with clear distortions. The artist's statement talks of the disappearance of the exterior physical shell... a place where the interior and exterior of the flesh mingle... having no boundaries. You can find the artists statement in its entirety—along with this and other images from his recent body of work—at: adriancoxart.com.


The untitled piece by Adrian Cox, as well as thought-provoking work by nineteen other artists can be seen at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago, through March 1st. Gallery 180 is located at 180 N. Wabash [at the corner of lake and Wabash] in Chicago’s Loop. All work is available for purchase with commissions donated to Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights. The show can also be seen online at gallery180.com.
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human ~ A National Juried Exhibition to benefit Heartland Alliance

Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago presents: “human", a collection of fine art, from around the country, that explores the human form as well as the human condition. The exhibition includes a variety of painting, drawing, photography and sculpture. Commissions from the sale of work, included in this exhibition, will be donated directly to Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights which provides life changing opportunities to people around the world who are homeless, seeking safety or living in poverty.

I selected twenty artists from around the country to present their work in this exhibition. This year, the exhibiting artists are: Christopher Andres, South Bend, IN; Marisa Andropolis, Algonquin, IL; Tamie Beldue, Black Mountain, NC; E. Thurston Belmer, St. Louis, MO; John Benedetto, Winnetka, IL; Brandon Briggs, Bowling Green, OH; Adrian Cox, St. Louis, MO; Audry Cramblit, Chicago, IL; Matthew Dercole, Chicago, IL; Benjamin Fedosky, Berkeley, CA; Sheila Ganch, Chicago, IL; Vesna Jovanovic, Chicago, IL; Paula Kloczkowski Luberda, Naperville, IL; Jason Lascu, Nashville, TN; Catherine Maize, South Haven, MI; David Mazure, Milford, PA; Nichole McCormick Santiago, Williamsburg, VA; Ted Preuss, Chicago, IL; Jim Tansley, Chicago, IL; Kenju Urakubo, Jackson Heights, NY; and Jonathan Weiss, Chicago, IL

The plaster-sculpted self-portrait, by Benjamin Fedosky [shown above], is included in the “human” exhibition. The piece was inspired by a trip to the ancient city of Pompeii. Fedosky explains…

Displayed among the ruins were plaster casts made from the bodies buried in volcanic ash. These stark and evocative artifacts impressed me immensely. Upon returning home, I began working in directly modeled plaster. This technique involves building a form that is both modeled and carved as the plaster sets until the sculpture is finally realized. The work began as a study of my face. The face quickly became a head, then a bust, developing over a month’s time through a concentrated dialogue between the process, subject, and materials.

“human” will be presented at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago through March 1, 2012. Previews begin on January 16th with a catered Opening Reception scheduled for Friday, January 20th from 5:30-7:30pm. All works are available for purchase. Gallery 180 is located at 180 N. Wabash—at the corner of Lake and Wabash—in Chicago’s Loop. The gallery is open Monday through Thursday from 8am-8pm, Friday 8am-5:30pm and Saturday 9am-5pm. Additional information—and images from the exhibition—can be found at gallery180.com.

Benjamin Fedosky is a sculptor and painter living in Berkeley, CA. He studied at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee from 1997-1999 and has since developed a self-directed approach to his art and studio practice. Working primarily with the sculpted human form and the painted landscape, Fedosky uses suggestive modeling, active surface treatments, and expressive mark-making to create evocative works that pursue the essence of subject and form. Fedosky has exhibited in solo and group shows throughout the U.S. and in Canada, and his works are held in selected private collections.

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Pamela Michelle Johnson ~ Closes Thursday

The above image is a page from the December issue of "Where" magazine, Chicago. It highlights the imagery of Pamela Michelle Johnson, currently on exhibit at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago

If you haven't had the opportunity to experience the large scale food paintings, you have only a few more days. The exhibition closes on Thursday. Galley 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago is located at 180 North Wabash, which is the corner of Lake and Wabash in Chicago's Loop. See gallery180.com for details.
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