Swietlan Nicholas Kraczyna three years ago mounted his exhibition here in Barga celebrating 40 years of work in the city, this week preparations are underway was the opening of another show, this time of work produced by himself and his students who attended this year’s colour printing workshop.
The exhibition opened this afternoon at the Studio for Color Etching in Barga Vecchia with recent work by Giada Negri – Italy | Gabriel Feld – Argentina | Swietlan Kraczyna – USA | Lourdes Santandreu Planas – Spain
Swietlan Kraczyna was born on the Polish-Russian border March 1, 1940. At the outbreak of World War the family moved westward and at the end of the war in 1945 ended up in the refugee camps in Germany. After six years, in 1951, the family emigrated to the United States.
Swietlan received his BFA degree in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design and in 1962 he spent a year in Italy doing independent studies in Rome and Florence on an EHP scholarship from RISD. In 1962-64 he went back to the United States to study for a MFA degree and received a teaching fellowship at the University of Southern Illinois. In the autumn of 1964 he returned to Italy and although he lives and works in Florence in the 13th century home of Michelangelo’s teacher, Domenico Ghirlandaio, he exhibits one-man shows annually in the United States.
In 1966 his interests turned completely to the graphic world and at this time he set up the etching department at Villa Schifanoia (Rosary College Graduate School of Fine Arts) in Florence, where he still continues to teach. In 1970 Kraczyna was one of ten artists to represent the United States in the Palazzo Strozzi Biennale di Grafica, and his multi-plate color etchings are represented in the Uffizi Gallery Prints and Drawings Collection. From 1973 until 1980 he worked as the technical assistant to Marino Marini on all his color etchings.
Kraczyna has been invited to different Universities and art schools in the United States, England, Italy, Mexico, and Columbia, and South America to give demonstrations of his own multi-plate color etching technique. He is one of the founders of the “Il Bisonte” International School of Advanced Printmaking in Florence where he teaches all the techniques of color etching, and is also the co-author of “I Segni Incisi”, the first Italian comprehensive textbook on the history and techniques of etching.
40 years of work in Barga 1973 – 2013
Swietlan Nicholas Kraczyna
Nasce il 24 marzo 1940 sul confine Russo-Polacco. Dopo la Seconda Guerra Mondiale vive per sei anni nei campi profughi in Germania.
Nel 1951 si trasferisce negli U.S.A. dove si laurea in pittura presso la Rhode Island School of De-sign. Nel 1961 ottiene una borsa di studio per continuare a dipingere a Roma e Firenze. Al ritorno negli U.S.A. dopo aver conseguito una seconda laurea, insegna nella University of Southern Illinois, U.S.A.
Nel 1964 torna in Italia e si stabilisce a Firenze. Nel 1966 vince il Premio Fiorino d’Oro della città di Firenze per le fotografie fatte durante l’alluvione e nel 1967 pubblica una cartella di xilografie a colori “Dodici Chiese di Firenze” con prefazione del sindaco di Firenze Piero Bargellini. Dal 1972 al 1980 assiste, come collaboratore tecnico, Marino Marini e realizza con il suo particolare proce-dimento tutte le incisioni a colori del maestro.
Nel 1979 l’editore Belforte di Livorno, pubblica “Labirinto di via Fani”, un volume di disegni dell’artista sul rapimento di Aldo Moro.
Nel 1982 la stamperia Il Bisonte pubblica una sua cartella di nove incisioni a colori “Carnevale Oni-rico”.
Nel 1983 è docente del corso di incisione a colori alla Scuola Internazionale di Specializzazione per la Grafica d’Arte, il Bisonte.
Nel 1983, Edi Cigno di Roma pubblica la sua cartella “La Sagra della Primavera” di Igor Stravinsky con la presentazione di Renzo Vespignani.
Nel 1986 l’editore Belforte di Livorno pubblica il volume “Dancing the Labiririnth”, incisioni a colori eseguite dal 1975 al 1985, con una introduzione di Corrado Bologna. Attualmente è direttore del dipartimento di Belle Arti presso l’Università di Sarah Lawrence a Firenze, insegna incisione per Syracuse University sempre a Firenze e dirige la propria scuola estiva, Studio for Color Etching a Barga dove risiede durante l’estate dal 1973, ed ogni estate si dedica a creare immagini di Barga come l’ormai famosa immagine del Castello di Barga riportata sui documenti del Comune di Barga e sulla lattina dell’Olio Berio.
Le sue ultime due pubblicazioni sono “Un volo di 40 Anni di Icaro” e un volume di 100 fotografie fatte dal Kraczyna nel Novembre 1966 sulla Grande Alluvione di Firenze.
Dal 1962 ad oggi, Kraczyna ha fatto 145 mostre personali in cinque continenti e le sue opere sono nella collezione di Gabinetto delle Stampe e Disegni alla Galleria degli Uffizi.
Lourdes Santandreu Planas
Born in Mallorca. – Lives, studies and works in Florence – her site can be seen here
Studies
2015 – 2016 Specialization in Etching and Printmaking, Fondazione Il Bisonte per lo Studio dell’Arte Grafica, Florence
2014 Preservation, Conservation and Digitalization of Photographic Originals, IEFC – Institut d’ Estudis Fotogràfics de Catalunya, Barcelona
2013 Antique Photographic Processes, IEFC – Institut d’ Estudis Fotogràfics de Catalunya, Barcelona
2013 Conservation and Restoration applied to Graphic Document, E.C.O.R.E. – Escola de Conservació i Restauració d’ Obres d’ Art, Barcelona
2012-2013 Bookbinding, Escola Massana, Barcelona
2012 Introduction to Conservation and Restoration applied to Graphic Document, E.C.O.R.E – Escola de Conservació i Restauració d’ Obres d’ Art, Barcelona
2009 – 2014 Bachelor in Art and Design, Escola Massana/UAB, Barcelona
Collective exhibitions
2015 Printed Matter, Sala delle Colonne dell’Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze, Florence
2014 punt i coma, Nau Comanegra, Barcelona
2014 …y punto, Sala Busquets, Escola Massana, Barcelona
2013 Nobody like(s) you, C/Mateu Obrador 10, Nit de l’ Art, Palma de Mallorca
2013 Indici, CAP Drassanes, Barcelona
2013 turritopsis… los límites de la escultura, Tom Carr and tcteamwork, Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Huarte, Navarra
2012 Los invisibles, gràfiques i intervencions polítiques comissariades per Jordi Pallarés, Casal Son Tugores, Alarò
2012 Nobody like(s) you, La parada de los monstruos, Nit de l’ Art, Palma de Mallorca
2011 Nobody like(s) you, come with us, La parada de los monstruos, Nit de l’ Art, Palma de Mallorca
2010 Bad Romance, Fundació Sa Nostra, Palma de Mallorca
2010 Nobody like(s) you, La parada de los monstruos, Nit de l’ Art, Palma de Mallorca
2008 Autopista 11, Col·legi Lluis Vives, Palma de Mallorca
Gabriel Feld is an architect and a teacher. Currently chief critic of RISD’s EHP (European Honors Program) in Rome, he has been a professor at RISD since 1990, serving as head of the Architecture department between 1997 and 2002.
He has also taught at China Academy of Art, Dessau Institute of Architecture, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Boston Architectural Center and Universidad de Buenos Aires.
His practice both in his native Argentina and in the US has involved residential and institutional projects, large-scale affordable housing, industrialized construction, urban design and transportation. He writes and lectures about modern architecture and urban issues.
During the past few years he has developed a variety of visual experiments, including photography, paper installations and prints, which were exhibited in Roman art galleries.
His short films have been selected for screening at international film festivals (Toronto, Sao Paulo). Feld received his Architecture Diploma from the Universidad de Buenos Aires in 1980 and his Master in Architecture (with distinction) from Harvard University in 1988.