Figurative painter Judy Takács '86 is one of Northeast Ohio's most prolific artists. While at CIA, she double majored in Illustration and Portrait Painting, and today, she has a thriving practice that might best be known for Chicks with Balls: Unsung Female Heroes, a still-growing body of work that has been exhibited through Ohio and the Midwest.
Her current exhibition is We the People…All the People, which is on view through Election Day (Tuesday, November 3) at Warren E. Anderson Midtown Collaboration Center in Cleveland. (The show can be viewed right outside the second-floor entrance to CIA's Interactive Media Lab.
Recently, the Cleveland Heights native and current Solon resident discussed her exhibition and artistic practice with Davon Brantley '18, CIA Assistant Director of Alumni Relations + Admissions Outreach.
What is your work about?
That’s a big, big question! It’s about people. I always depict real people truthfully. Sometimes the real people play imagined people. Often I tell a story with a desire to right wrongs in the world, make people think, spotlight someone you might overlook, retell an age-old story or forgone conclusion and stereotype from a feminist perspective. People are my absolute favorite subject to paint, and usually the person posing shares attributes with the character they are posing as; their own story intertwines with the story I'm telling.
What mediums do you utilize for your work?
Oil painting on canvas or linen, sometimes with added gold, silver or copper leaf, sometimes with collage.
What is We the People…All the People about?
We the People…All the People is a show to inspire hope and action for the semi-quincentennial, the 250th birthday of our United States of America. The collection of work tries to be a reminder to the people and to our leaders that we are a nation ruled by laws and the U.S. Constitution. Also, that we are a nation that is stronger because of the vast diversity of people who live here who built and build our nation, past and present. The show hopes to remind us that we need to behave in an honorable way and respect each other … basic human rights. I also want to stress that the U.S. was never perfect … not by a long shot … but our strength is that we are a constant work in progress and that we can and have changed things, usually … but not always … for the better. And then we have to change them again. Freedom isn’t free … it never was.
We the People…All the People also hopes to capture the nostalgia and love I have for the U.S. as a 14-year-old first-generation American and history buff 50 years ago when we were celebrating our Bicentennial in 1976. Things weren’t perfect back then either, but we were headed in the right direction as far as women's rights, civil rights and human rights. Sadly, we're going in the wrong direction now … but the election is coming up and We the People have the power to change course.
What do you want the viewer to take away from this exhibition?
I want them to take a long look at the horrible things we've tolerated and allowed to grow in our country: the hate, the divisiveness, the persecution of those who live and work here, the blatant violation of our U.S. Constitution, and the tolerance of monsters, rapists, pedophiles, autocrats, dictators and fools in our highest offices. I want viewers to vote against all that, come next election. It’s very intentional that the show will be up through Election Day, November 3.
Where can we find you next?
Hopefully, there will be another gallery talk or event to bring people to the Midtown Collaboration Center for We the People…All the People again. In the meantime, I have another highly opinionated mythological painting at the Tikkanen Painting Prize show at the Ashtabula Arts Center. The painting in that show is called "Three Fates Cut Ties." Outspoken politically opinionated rock and roll photographer and political analyst Anastasia Pantsios posed for all three fates in this 48-inch tondo. The mortal thread the three fates wrestle with is the long red necktie worn by certain government officials.
We the People…All the People is presented by Arts for Justice Cleveland, a nonprofit organization founded by Executive Director Karen Prasser to marry the effectiveness, beauty and entertainment value of the arts with the necessity of a just society. Arts for Justice Cleveland works closely with the Cleveland State University Law School and the Terry Gilbert Wrongful Conviction Clinic to exonerate the innocent who are incarcerated, sometimes for decades, for crimes they did not commit.
For additional coverage of We the People…All the People, visit Ideastream Public Media and CAN Journal.
Image credit: "Declarations and A-MEND-ments" by Judy Takács '86