Barbara Morrison Januszkiewicz (born February 23, 1955) is an American painter, multi-media artist and filmmaker. She specializes in watercolor painting in a hybrid style – 'realism handled in a impressionist manner'[1] Her artwork has appeared predominantly in the Washington, D.C., area, including the Phillips Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Gallery K and The Art League. Her works can also be found in feature magazines, films, cable and international television formats. Januszkiewicz is the founder of "Art in the Heart", grant programs for the promotion of the arts in the community, 1999. She is on the staff of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and lives in Arlington, Virginia.
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In 1997 Januszkiewicz started a public-access television series showcasing artists and their works from the greater Washington Metropolitan Area Creative Vision Television for the Arts. Key documentaries include Hilda Thorpe, in her own words[2] a documentary of an independent-spirited member of the Washington Color School, Thorpe being one of the only women to be part of this avant-garde school which use color to united all the artists. [3]..See text, Washington Review Volume XXV1 No.1 June/July 2000. Another documentary was filmed in The Kreeger Museum in Washington DC, called Remembering The Present in July 2000. This showcased an exhibition that would be part of The Kreeger Museum’s citywide initiative, DC Citypiece: Monuments at the Millennium. Jack Rasmussen, curator of this show, said "The proposals exhibited in Remembering the Present had to meet only two criteria: quality and relevance. The artists were not asked to memorialize the past because the past isn't what it used to be (and never was) and the “universal” is as changeable as the past, a matter of perspective, not truth. Artists cannot escape the present, any more than their patrons. Remembering the Present takes advantage of this fact, asking artists to communicate the present thorough their ability to create relevant cultural metaphors."
A controversial Creative Vision television documentary was a traveling roadshow from Boston called The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA). This was the world's only museum dedicated to the collection, preservation, exhibition and celebration of bad art in all its forms. Since 1994, the Museum of Bad Art [4]has been dedicated to bring the worst of art to the widest of audiences. Januszkiewicz saw the opportunity to show the satire of the whole thing. The documentary captured pseudo art patrons as they attended the gallery opening. The remarks that were filmed was based on sarcasm and mocking the art. The exhibit captured the attention of the media and brought in more visitors to the show. The ironic nature of the show seems to be lost on most of the attendees. The Creative Vision documentary captured raw conversations of people mesmerized by the artwork. The MOBA founders were criticized for being anti-art, but they deny this by stating that its collection is a tribute to artists who persevered with their art despite something going horribly wrong in the process. Deborah Solomon, in The New York Times Magazine, asserted that MOBA's success reflects a trend in modern art among artists and audiences.MOBA has been used in academic studies as a standard of reference for the spectacularly awful. In one such study, published in [5], researchers asking about how one feels about bad art. This documentary MOBA was broadcast on public access cable television for over 8 years straight, again a testimony to the mockery that bad art get more respect then fine art, Januszkiewicz explains. After only completing her first three documentaries out of 20 she won producer of the year with Arlington Independent Media. Creative Vision TV for the Arts was remixed in 2010 to help hihlight creative activists, who are using art outreach to create positive change in the world.
Art: Since her emergence as a contemporary Pop artist in the early 1990s, Januszkiewicz has been a multi-media artist, filmmaker, visual journalist, and teacher. Januszkiewicz trained formally in the mid 1970's at Jacksonville University under the Chinese master Mun Quan, a traditional watercolorist whose influence can be seen in her simple Zen landscapes and in her wet and controlled technique. Over time, this artistic expression evolved into her signature “fusion” style of painting.[6] The influence of avant-garde artists including Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, and others can be seen in Januszkiewicz’s choice of subject matter depicting everyday Americanism. Much like a classical performer embraces a range of styles, her compositions are inspired by scenes ranging from crowded city streets to close-ups of coffee and donuts and cafeteria foods to bicycle spokes and Ferris wheels. She paints mostly from memory to reflect on the relationship of pure, fresh color and design, resulting in a feeling of nostalgia while staying on the edge of realism.
Januszkiewicz found inspiration during the summer of 2010 she spent in Paris reconnecting with her passion for jazz music and seeing her art in musical terms. In her latest works she captures movement and expression with optical illusions and bright hues. Her series of musical notations is based on jazz elements with a geometric and color fixation. These compositions gradually become more structured in a series of musical notations while keeping a loose and flowing touch. This latest fusion of jazz and painting has infused Januszkiewicz’s work with a rhythm and flow that addresses a new media form and opens new dialogues with other creative art forms and artists, like a revamping of happenings from the 60s. The Jazz Vision Trio [7]was formed with Januszkiewicz along with legendary jazz masters Dave Liebman and Jean-Marrie Machado.Barbara Januszkiewicz as a (painter/ filmaker jazz installation performance artist) takes risk in many of her projects adding to the avant-garde feeling with new media.
This latest fusion of jazz and painting in Januszkiewicz's work shows nonconventional interpretations of movement, art and music. The American Jazz Museum has recognized this artist's energy and her innovation new media projects and her commitment and using multimedia platforms or transmedia for artistic excellence. Because of this she is now working on collaborative programs with this prestigious organization. In addition she has also been invited to collaborate with some of the finest avant-garde jazz musicians as a visual artist.,[8]NYC Jazz pianist, Matthew Shipp, Januszkiewicz are working on a collaborative conceptual avant garde project film called The Composer. [9]