Remembering Fr. Joe Kelchak

Benedictine University has been blessed with donations of art over the last few decades. So much so that when the university was finally able to open its first official art gallery in 2013, named the Komechak Art Gallery, the opening exhibition featured a number of works by various donors. It was a celebration of many supporters for the gallery, but also for the donors who have been generous to share their collections with the Benedictine community.

One of those donors was The Very Reverend Joseph Kelchak, or Fr. Joe, as he was often called. His legacy to the university was his wide-ranging and eclectic art collection which spanned many subjects, media, and styles. Eventually, Fr. Joe's donations would become so numerous that he became the art collection's largest donor. When one visits the campus at Benedictine University, they can see works from his donations in virtually every building. The Komechak Art gallery is proud to display a sampling of Fr. Joe's collection (from June 1 - July 20, 2019) in celebration of his many contributions.

The exhibition features works donated in recent years, including paintings, prints, sculptures, and ceramics. As a global art collector, Fr. Joe's vision included religious works as well and contemporary art from Europe, Israel, Mexico, Africa, the South Pacific rim, Native American works and artists from the United States. Some notable names from his donations include Henri Matisse, Gino Severini, Georges Rouault, Maurice Utrillo, Robin Branham and many others.

One of the first persons to call me as the new curator of the university collection was Fr. Joe. He introduced himself and explained that he was a close friend of my predesessor, Fr. Michael Komechak. Fr. Joe told me what he'd recently donated, and then proceeded to tell me all about the pieces. Whenever I visited his home, he would take me around and introduce me to his collection. He was very excited about it and loved relating stories about how he acquired the pieces, and from whom. It was always a treat to go to his home to see what was added to his collection, and see how he arranged it to best advantage. Those afternoons were a delight, and will remain fond memories.

Below are some more selected images from the current exhibition. If you are able to attend, the gallery's summer hours are M-TH 11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. The gallery's 2019-2020 schedule is found at www.ben.edu/artgallery.

2019 Senior Art Exhibition

Congratulations are in order for six graduating senior Graphic Arts students at Benedictine University. The students: Kaitlyn Caravello, Megan Kamath, Megan Roy-Chowdhury, Austin Gascoigne, Antonio E. Hernandez, and Rebecca McDounough are exhibiting their portfolios of studio work as part of their capstone coursework for the Bachelor of Arts degree. The exhibition opens today, May 6th, and will run through May 18th. A public reception is scheduled for Tuesday, May 7th, from 3:00 p.m.- 6:00 p.m. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., and Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Following are images from the senior show.

BenU Student Juried Art Exhibition 2019

The BenU Student Juried Exhibition recently took place at the Komechak Art Gallery, from April 15-30, 2019. This year's juror was Ms. Ann Blaas,from College of DuPage and Lewis University. 77 pieces from 41 students were selected for the show. The following students won awards: Rebecca McDonough - Best of Show Emma Redfern - Best in Fine Arts Kaitlyn Estopare - Best in Graphic Art & Design Katie Farb - Best in Calligraphy Ries McCue - Best in 3D Brieann Cruz - Honorable Mention Tyrese Ray - Honorable Mention Jasmin Lin - Honorable Mention Many thanks to all the participants, and the Fine and Graphic Arts instructors for encouraging the students' participation.

Dankook University student art at Komechak Art Gallery

Graphic Design students from Dankook University in South Korea recently exhibited examples of their work at Komechak Art Gallery, in Lisle, Illinois. Benedictine University's Asst. Professor of Art, HaiRi Han, guest-curated the exhibit. Professor Han teaches Graphic Art and Design courses at Benedictine University. This was the first opportunity to exhibit students' work from South Korea. Many thanks to Professor Han for bringing the exhibit to the university, and many thanks to the students who participated in the exhibit.

Milan Kosar: Life and Love opens at the Komechak Art Gallery

Milan Kosar was an artist and graphic designer who lived and worked the majority of his career in Chicago, Illinois. He was born in 1931, in Prague, of the Czech Republic. He studied at the Graphic School in Prague, and received his university equivalent Diploma of Excellence in Drawing and Graphic Arts in 1949. He completed additional graduate studies in art history, Russian language and the social sciences by 1956.

Afterward, Kosar migrated to the United States (Chicago). For the next thirty years, he worked as a graphic designer, but he continued to paint various subjects throughout the rest of his life. The range of his stylistic approach and technical prowess shows a mastery of medium but what comes through most evidently is his love of life and all the adventures it has to offer.

Kosar painted almost exclusively on illustration board. His smaller, portable watercolors on paper show his ever-curious eye as he takes the viewer with him on his travels abroad, weekend excursions to the beach, walks in the park, or quietly shares his time at home with the family. Each of these subjects has a nostalgic aura about them. The openness of these compositions is reminiscent of Edward Hopper’s spare subjects, but the colorful nature of Kosar’s landscapes reminds us of the work of the Expressionist Edvard Munch.

To show the breadth of the Kosar exhibition it has been divided into three areas: portraits, landscapes, and abstractions.

His portraits show a love of the face and they portray a gentleness with regard to the family scenes. Kosar tended to start off these pictures as sketches while observing the family unit, or having worked from a photographic reference. Still, there is something endearing and sweet about how he has the characters interact with one another. Later on, Kosar would sometimes re-paint these subjects in different color schemes, or move up in scale onto illustration board. He did work in series of familial subjects. These tend to be quite beautifully layered in translucent color; the air fragrant with life.

A closer examination of Kosar’s portraits shows his love of the face and how he conveys his love for the subject. There are a few dual portraits, or rather a couple engaged in a gentle embrace in one scene, then the same couple is modeled as nude statues in a landscape similar to the work of di Chirico. The next time we see the same couple they have been upgraded to 60s attire and are engaged in a kooky beatnik, colorful wide-eyed embrace.

The next section of the exhibition shows Kosar’s interest in travel abroad in Paris and in various cities, including Chicago. His drawing skills show his mastery of vanishing point perspective, and he clearly kept challenging himself to draw architecture, CTA train lines and Lake Shore Drive. These works seem more subdued color-wise than the rest of the exhibition, but one could understand the the analytical nature of the works were more important than color.

Abstraction is a large part of Kosar’s body of artwork as well. He painted them throughout his career, but as he got older, he spent more and more time painting abstractions of color optics, and balanced compositions. This subject seems to be most important toward the end of his career, especially after the event of 9/11 in New York City in 2001. The earlier abstract compositions have balance and color, but they appear as if he is working out compositional exercises for himself. The latter abstract works feel different, more personal, as if he is trying to make sense of a world gone mad. They change in their balance, and directionally have less order about them. His commentary here was that the world was losing its moral compass.

Overall, the body of this artist’s work shows he was a person always searching for life and love. While Kosar never exhibited his artwork during his lifetime, these works, which are now a part of the Benedictine University’s permanent collection, will always be available for students, and the public to see and appreciate. The exhibition will run through February 28th.