SCULPTURES?

I have to create them. They are the music and the rhythm that comes from the world, they are the energy which used to go here and there and now has found a place where it is calm, powerful. They tried to mould me in different schools. But all my ideas...I make them into sculptures for myself. That is my rhythm. That is what gives me peace. That is how I get inebriated with joy.

WOOD?

Wood engages two types of energy that I have, the boxer's energy--physical energy, and creative energy--filled with color. The way God created me--they complement each other. I like to box with the wood--fight with it. I master it--I form it--I use heavy axes. The physial and the creative energies find their releases through harmony--balance. They argue and fight but mainly come to an agreement.

CHILD?

Now, I dare to be one. I don't mask myself. Finally, I dare to ask about things I don't know about, to cry aloud, to be happy. To just sit and do nothing surrounded by a mess. To listen to instinct.

NEXT EXHIBIT?

When I was finishing work on this exhibit...these children bear the next children. As I fight physically, the brain is not asleep. The continuum leads me to another place. I have had to learn how to listen to myself. How to finish work on one idea before starting on the next. A line alive with color has led me to a place where small forces meet on a limited field, where form is even briefer in expressing the essence of events. That's where I will be.

Jerzy S. Kenar was born in 1948 in Iwonicz Zdroj, Poland. At the age of thirteen he was enrolled at a boarding Arts Gymnasium in Nowy Wisnicz, Poland. In the early seventies Kenar studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk, Poland.  In 1973 Jerzy immigrated to Sweden in search of himself, and a better future. In 1980 Kenar came to New York and later to Chicago, where he’s been residing ever since.

In 1980 Jerzy S. Kenar created “The Wooden Gallery” as a median for his showroom. The gallery quickly became a center for international cultural gatherings, music concerts, diverse exhibits, and performances. Today, the Wooden Gallery offers a broad history of remarkable international events; featuring globally-recognized artists, celebrities, actors, musicians, and Nobel Prize laureates; such as Lech Walesa and Czeslaw Milosz.

In 1995 the City of Chicago, Mayor Richard Daley, presented a permanent exposition of Jerzy’s sculptures at the O’Hare International Airport. In 1996 Polish Minister of Culture, awarded the artist with a prestigious Medal of Honor for an Exceptional Cultural Development within the International Arena. In 1997, Athenaeum, Museum of Architecture and Design, commissioned Kenar’s piece for “Sculptures Under the Stars”- a permanent installation within a Global Sculpture Park-featuring top ten internationally-recognized artists. In 1998 the Harold Washington’s Public Library Center in Chicago commissioned Jerzy to create “Together” ,a sculpture depicting the multi-nationalism of the City of Chicago, later unveiled by the Honorable Lech Walesa. In 1999, the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Bronislaw Geremek, awarded Jerzy S. Kenar an Honorary Diploma recognizing him as one of the outmost contributing artists to the cultural promotion of Poland in the world. Furthermore, in 1999 Jerzy was chosen by the Museum of Architecture and Design as one of the artists featured in the “Chicago’s Top Ten Artist” exhibition. In 1999, and again in 2000, the Chicago Tribune featured Jerzy S. Kenar in its notable Sunday Magazine issue.

In 2000, Jerzy S. Kenar became a recipient of the prestigious Chopin Award, granted for outstanding contributions to the Cultural and Artistic Development of the World. In 2001 the artist was commissioned to create a granite and live-water permanent installation for the Renaissance Public Park, awarded by the Chicago Park District. In the year 2003, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and TV Polonia granted Jerzy S. Kenar with the prestigious Freedom Statuette awarded for exceptional international artistic contributions in helping to raise the awareness of Poland’s Culture in the world. Also in the year 2003 the Polish American Congress honored Jerzy with the admirable Polish Heritage award.