K-man

 

Janusz Kapusta was born in Zalesie, Poland, in 1951.

He graduated from the high school of Fine Arts in Poznan.

He then graduated from the Department of Architecture at the Warsaw Polytechnic and then studied the History of Philosophy at the Academy of Catholic Theology in Warsaw.

Kapusta is an artist interested in Mathematics and Philosophy. His work ranges from small graphic forms, posters, magazine illustrations, graphic design and book illustrations, to set designs and painting.

Since 1981 Kapusta has been living in New York. His works have appeared in “The New York Times”, “The Wall  Street  Journal”, “The Washington Post”, “The Boston Globe”, “Nature” and other publications.

He has also contributed illustrations for “The Captive Mind” ( published by The Limited Edition Club, 1984), a book by the famous Polish writer and Nobel laureate Czeslaw Milosz.

The artist’s works can be found in the collections of many museums and galleries around the world (These include: The Museum of Modern Art in New York; The Museum of Modern Art in Lodz, Poland; and the IBM Collection).  He has presented many individual exhibitions and participated in numerous group shows.

In 1985 Janusz Kapusta discovered a new geometrical shape, an eleven faced polyhedron, which he called the K-dron (przemyslawm5.sg-host.com).  He has exploited the use of the k-dron in many of his works and has presented many k-dron exhibitions.

In 1995 he designed the sets for Robert Wilson’s opera “The Black Rider”, produced in Heilbronn, Germany) and for George Bizet’s “Carmen” at the National Opera in Warsaw. In1998, he designed the set for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, also shown in Heilbronn.

Janusz Kapusta is the author of three books: “Almost Everybody” (1985) published by William Morrow in New York;  “Janusz Kapusta in the New York Times” (1995) published by WAiF and Ars Polona in Warsaw (This book was later recognized as the most beautiful art album published Poland in that year);  and

“K-dron. Opatentowana nieskonczonosc” (“K-dron. Patented Infinity”) (1995) published by WSiP in Warsaw.

In 1998 Kapusta won the prestigious Alfred Jurzykowski Award in Fine Arts.

In 1999, his exhibition entirely devoted to K-Dron opened at the Museum of Modern Art in Lodz, Poland.

At the same time the Actor and Puppet Theater in Katowice, Poland staged a play called “Planet K-Dron, the Mystery of Interrupted Journey”. Kapusta served as the author, set designer and director.

In 2000, the artist discovered new and previously unknown principles of the golden proportion and presented them at  mathematical conferences in American Universities. His articles have appeared in math periodicals in the United States and Japan.

In February 2002, Kapusta accompanied by director Lech Majewski took part in the staging of “Carmen” at the National Opera in Vilnius, Lithuania.  In the same year, he, as one of 22 world artists, was invited to participate in an International Exhibition in Zagreb, Croatia devoted to restoration of the Museum of Art in Vukovar that had been destroyed during the war.

In May 2004, Kapusta won a Grand Prix in an international competition in Ankara commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the Turkish Republic. The next year in Sintra, Portugal he won the first prize for the best drawing published in the world the previous year, and in Tehran, Iran he won the first prize at the Biennale of Press Illustration.

His works have appeared regularly in a leading polish newspaper, “Rzeczpospolita”, from 1995 to the present.

For several years he has served as a visiting professor and has collaborated with the School of Visual Art and New Media in Warsaw.

In November 2010 he received his PhD in art at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Art.

Janusz Kapusta is an Artistic Director at The Chopin Society of New York And Honorary Member of Polish American Business Club.