Gala Concert
Saturday, November 2, 2013 at 8 PM
Please arrive at 7 PM for better seats
Consulate General of the Republic of Poland
233 Madison Avenue (37 Street)
New York, NY 10016
FREE Admission
Reservation is required (on a first-come, first-served basis) by e-mail only:
newyork.rsvp@msz.gov.pl
Albert Zak, pianist
Born in Canada, the son of Polish immigrant parents, Albert Zak began to play the piano at age four and was, at the time, the youngest person enrolled in the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. He attended public schools in Toronto and continued his education at the University of Toronto, where he majored in languages and literature. However, his love for music led him to concentrate on a career as a musician, and in 1972 he entered the State College of Music (now the Chopin Academy of Music) in Warsaw, Poland, where he studied with Jan Ekier. He graduated with highest honors in 1977, performing the Rachmaninoff Third Piano Concerto with the Lublin Philharmonic. Subsequently, he has studied in Paris, Bydgoszcz (Poland), and New York.
Mr. Zak is a maverick who has followed his own unique path to finding expression and meaning in life and art. His performance syle has been characterized as “distinctive,” “highly personal,” and “truly artistic” by some of the world’s finest musicians. Presently, Mr. Zak holds a doctor of musical arts degree from New York University. He lives and works in New York.
Program:
Beethoven
Sonata, Op.31, no. 3
Allegro
Scherzo
Menuetto
Presto con fuoco
Chopin
Alegro de concert, Op. 46
Etude, Op.25, no.11 (Winter Wind)
Fantasy – Impromptu, Op. 66
Polonaise, Op.53 (Heroic)
Painting Exhibition titled Sensitive Beasts by Prof. Artur Popek, Dean of the
Art Department, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, Poland.
Curator: Dr. Przemyslaw J. Moskal
Prof. Artur Popek
Artur Popek was born in 1960 in Szczebrzeszyn, Poland. He graduated with distinctions and with two degrees, one in psychology, and second in fine arts from Maria Curie-Sklodowska University (MCSU) in Lublin. He started his teaching career at the Institute of Fine Arts as an assistant professor and conducted his doctoral work at the Academy of Fine Arts under the direction of Prof. Rafal Strent. In 2011, he received the presidential title of the Professor of Fine Arts. He was elected as the Dean of Art Faculty of the Art Department at MCSU for 2012-2016 term.
Prof. Popek is a member of the Association of Polish Artists, Association of the International Triennial of Graphic Arts in Krakow and ADOGI (Association for the Dissemination of International Graphic Arts) in Barcelona, Spain. Since 2000, he’s been associated with group KRAK – Hollywood, LA and has been the artistic director of the Society of Arts in Chicago. In years 2001-2010 he worked as an illustrator for Polish daily Nowy Dziennik in New York.
Prof. Popek has exhibited his art in over 70 individual exhibitions, 50 international exhibitions and over 70 group exhibitions, including Polish Institute in Bratyslava, 2000; Society for Arts in Chicago, 1999-2003; Director’s Guild of America, Los Angeles, 2000; Unlimited Art Gallery, Charlotte, 2002; CMU Art Museum, Chiang Mai Thailand, 2013; Canisius College Montante Cultural Center, Buffalo 2013, among others. He has designed over 100 catalogs, books and other publications. He’s a laureate of many prestigious awards and mentions in the field of graphic arts and painting. His art works are in collections in international galleries, museums and private individuals.
Prof. Popek’s creative work focuses on graphic arts, specifically on traditional metal techniques (etching, drypoint), and since 2003 he has consequently been involved in painting. He has developed his own unique style and recognized technique that is a sum of his experiences from a variety of art forms: graphic arts, painting, sculpture and digital media. His latest paintings are a pilgrimage – containing reflections, experiences from his journeys around the world. They refer to the human condition of contemporary people, raising questions about the origin of love and cruelty. Bestiarium is a deep contemplation on a human archetype, an attempt to ask the most important questions through the medium of painting.
Prof. Lechoslaw Lamenski summarizes artist’s work in the following words:
“Art Popek uses shapes that have their origin in the collective consciousness, he dislikes directness. It seems, as if the artist loves beyond all understatement, allusiveness, ambiguity and provides us with a multitude of interpretations. His art is for most of us a dual puzzle. First, it is possible to analyze individual forms, but that leads us to naming parts of a composition without a chance for drawing clear conclusions. Second, the work of art reveals itself almost at the point of touch where the message, bright idea, or prophetic thought, despite the challenges of logical interventions and abstract thinking, cannot be fully comprehended and resolved. And it’s quite all right, because Artur Popek’s art evokes sublime, aesthetic feelings and through saturation of purely plastic forms, they fulfill and expand themselves with literary content, they become mysterious and unexplained such as the works of art of the great masters of renaissance. Perhaps it is the reason why his art will survive the test of time and will stay with us forever.”