Six years ago, I started to pitch my traveling show, Chicks with Balls: Judy Takács paints unsung female heroes, to Ohio museums. I focused on the Zanesville Museum of Art especially. I loved their folksy Central Ohio vibe. The museum sits on a suburban street with a classic red mailbox, next to a home-based tanning salon! It also has a […]
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The painting of portraits has a long and storied history. For hundreds of years, artists have sought to capture likenesses on canvas. In a post-postmodern world, portraiture still has a role to play, but what is it exactly? In a world of selfie sticks and Instagram filters, people still seek out traditional painted portraits, but the status of these paintings […]
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Before the first Chick took off her shirt and hugged her first ball, I’ve been thinking about a solo museum show for my epic, now decade-old project, Chicks with Balls: Judy Takács paints unsung female heroes. On February 13, 2020, that dream is coming true. Chicks with Balls: Judy Takács paints unsung female heroes will have its (and my) first […]
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If we learned anything about women and gender-queer folks over the last two years and two months, it is that we are resilient, powerful survivor-warriors. What seems clear both locally and globally for women in living in the Orange Era, is what artist Barbra Kruger plainly stated 30 years ago in her stark photo text piece: “Your body is a […]
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Stanka Kordic Martin O’Connor John A. Sargent, III Judy Takács Contemporary Figurative Realism is a movement that has been brewing on the coasts for over a decade. Cleveland’s own figurative artists have also been passionately painting humans with an eye to truth, beauty and the beauty of the truthful depiction…physically and emotionally. To own a masterful depiction of a human […]
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In the afternoon before the opening of Lakeland Community College’s May Show, the poster that would later greet visitors was covered in brown paper to keep the identity of the Best-In-Show winner a secret. During a walk around the galleries that afternoon, it was impossible to ignore Mark Giangaspero’s imposing pastel portrait in grays and blues, Altered Identity. The image […]
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Szalay/Takács Secrets Art is full of secrets…secret meanings, symbolism, struggles and statements. Some secrets go to the grave with the artist, leaving curators and art historians to spend centuries speculating and theorizing about the mysteries hanging on museum walls. And some living artists blog about the secrets they have hidden in their paintings, hoping someone will care about the painting […]
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Out of 520 items submitted by 222 individuals, 93 pieces by 75 artists were accepted for display in the eighth annual May Show at Lakeland Community College. This might sound like an imposingly high number of works to take in at one time. However, the quality of the pieces assembled will energize viewers as they make their way through the […]
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