Joseph Stanislaus Ostoja-Kotkowski

"Born in Golub, Poland in 1922, Joseph Stanislaus Ostoja-Kotkowski (AM) was a prolific artist across diverse traditional and cutting edge mediums. From painting, photography, filmmaking and theatre design to fabric design, murals, kinetic and static sculpture, stained glass, vitreous enamel murals, op-collages, computer graphics and laser art, J.S. Ostoja-Kotkowski impacted.Ostoja won a scholarship to study at the Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Arts in Germany. Emigrating to Australia from his native Poland in 1949, J.S. Ostoja-Kotkowski trained for two years in the National Gallery of Victoria’s art schools while working as a manual labourer before settling in Adelaide, South Australia in 1954. His first one-man Exhibition was at the Royal Society of Arts in Adelaide.The Polish artist was renowned both in Australia and internationally for his ground-breaking work in chromasonics, laser kinetics and 'sound and image' productions. Ostoja's work in abstract expression saw him take out the Cornell Prize for the canvas "Form in Landscape".The iridescent images that Ostoja accidently discovered whilst rubbing his eyes began a lifelong fascination with light. His passion was further fuelled as he looked into the dazzling light and brilliant sunsets in Central Australia.Working in the Leigh Creek coalfields in the mid-fifties, Ostoja-Kotkowski drew inspiration for his artistic direction from the light and colour around him: 'In the centre of Australia I was struck by the iridescence of the colour.... Not only did the colour seem to be vibrating with intensity but at the same time it gave the impression of being something solid.... The surroundings were drowned in an exciting light that had a life of its own.' (PRG 919, Personal papers of JS Ostoja-Kotkowski, Kinetics and electronics in art. Power Institute lecture March 1968, p1)Ostoja-Kotkowski became obsessed with capturing this intensity in every creative expression, from his cutting edge light settings in set designs, designing and constructing stained glass windows to developing his technique for rear screen projections which was subsequently adopted throughout Australia.In 1964 Ostoja designed the largest light mosaic ever staged up to that time on the facade of an 11 storey building. His innovative design for the 18 m bass relief mural on the new B.P. building in Melbourne was the subject of a film which won the "Blue Ribbon" Award in the American Film Festival in New York.In 1965 Ostoja designed and made the first light kinetic mural in Australia, and continued to evolve theatrical works using multi-screen and Multi-projector techniques.  Ostoja introduced Op Art to Australia, both at Melbourne’s South Yarra Gallery and Sydney’s Gallery A.In 1966 noted architect Robin Boyd commissioned Ostoja to design two large Op murals for the Australian Pavilion entrance at the Expo 67. Being awarded a Churchill Fellowship enabled Ostoja to extensively travel the world, which inspired him to work with language, contemporary poetry and prose and computers.At the 1968 Adelaide Festival of Arts, Ostoja staged the first combined 'Sound and Image" production in the world using a laser beam.  His massive sixty foot long, ten foot high "Space Scape" mural won the national competition for a mural for Adelaide Airport."(artnomad.com)

Harold Balazs

Harold Balazs (1928 - 2017 ) was an American sculptor and artist whose work has been featured in exhibits and public art installations throughout the Northwestern United States. He is known for creating large, abstract metal sculptures, but also created murals, jewelry, furniture, drawings, stained glass and wooden boats.
"Harold Balazs of Mead, Wash., is best known for his public works of art in communities throughout the Pacific Northwest. Balazs crafts and sculpts in multimedia. His range of materials includes wood, metal, concrete, enamel and wrought iron. His newest public work, a collaborative project in Spokane’s Riverfront Park, is an interactive fountain of stainless steel and basalt, 30 feet in diameter and 16 feet tall.Balazs was born in 1928 in Westlake, Ohio. He earned his bachelor’s of arts degree in 1951 from Washington State University. He has worked as a self-employed artist since. He served three terms on the Washington State Arts Commission.Balazs is an artistic pioneer who juxtaposes disparate ideas in an endless variety of forms. He merges nebulous shapes with geometric, often on scrap materials such as old washing machine lids.The architectural community embraced his work, which led Balazs to create abstract altars, cement and brick planters and carved wooden doors. The American Institute of Architects awarded Balazs a gold medal in architectural crafts in 1967. He received a Washington state Governor’s Award in the Arts in 1988 and a lifetime achievement award from the Enamelist Society. In 2001, Balazs was profiled in the Living Treasures Project, a video series that documents the Northwest’s important and influential craftsmen and artists that ran on public television.Balazs is known for his vibrant enamel work. He created a 30-foot enamel mural of rhododendrons for Seattle’s Kingdome stadium. The mural was moved to the King County Administration building after the Kingdome was demolished.Balazs describes his life’s work with these words: “I make stuff because it’s better than not making stuff.”(theartspiritgallery.com)