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Prochownik retrospective to open tomorrow in Anderson Gallery
By KRISTIN E.M. RIEMER
Reporter Contributor
"Walter Prochownik: In Retrospect, 1965-1995," the first comprehensive survey of paintings and works on paper to highlight the long and productive career of Walter Prochownik, one of Western New York's most beloved artists and longtime UB faculty member, will open with a reception from 6-8:30 p.m. tomorrow at the UB Anderson Gallery.
Cumulo-nimbus from the "Pollution" series, 1993, acrylic on wood, 32 x 48. Courtesy of Edward Prochownik and Denise Charron-Prochownik.
Photo: Biff Henrich/Keystone Film Productions
The exhibition, which includes 93 paintings and works on paper that will be viewed collectively for the first time, will run through Sept. 5 in the first- and second-floor galleries.
Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 1-5 p.m. on Sunday. The exhibition is free of charge and open to the public. The Anderson Gallery is located on Martha Jackson Place off Englewood and Kenmore avenues near the UB South Campus. Call 829-3754 for more information.
Untitled from the "Environment and Technology" series, 1984, oil on linen, 48 x 30. Private Collection.
Photo: Biff Henrich/Keystone Film Productions
Two silk-painting workshops that will be held from 6-9:30 p.m. Aug. 17 and 31 will allow participants to create original Prochownik-inspired silk scarves. The cost is $25 per session, including all materials. Space is limited and those interested in attending should call Ginny Lohr at 829-3754 to register.
While Prochownik chose to live and work in Buffalo, he was an artist of international acclaim. Although he did not necessarily approve of the term "local artist" because of the term's limiting connotations, this exhibition demonstrates the visual, social and intellectual impact he had on the Western New York community.
A dedicated faculty member in the UB departments of Art and Art History for 32 years, Prochownik reluctantly retired at age 71 in 1995. Among his students who took leadership roles in the Buffalo art community were Alan Van Every, a founder of Big Orbit Gallery, and Catherine Howe and Olenka Bodnarsky Gunn, former curators at Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center.
In addition to his large and diverse body of work, Prochownik's legacy includes three large mural commissions in the Buffalo area. He is best known for "You the People," an expansive and expressive mural created in 1974 for the lobby of the Edward A. Rath County Building at the request of former Erie County Executive Ned Regan.
His two other murals are "Summertime," 1988, on view in UB's Charles B. Sears Law Library in O'Brian Hall on the North Campus, and "I Know Where I Have Been, but I Know Not Where I am Going," 1990, commissioned for the law offices of Magavern, Magavern & Grimm, L.L.P. in the Rand building in downtown Buffalo.
The exhibition is being curated by Kristin E. M. Riemer, public relations and development officer for the UB Art Galleries, with the assistance of Marie-Francoise Hutchison, a student in the Department of Art History. It is sponsored, in part, by Susan L. Martin and Bunge. The exhibition catalog received generous support from David K. Anderson.