Career in the U.S.
Op-art movement (1964-1970s) The term
op art was first coined by the American
Minimalist artist
Donald Judd in a review for
Arts Magazine of
Julian Stanczak: Optical Paintings held at the
Martha Jackson Gallery in
New York in 1964. Critic Burton Wasserman would later describe the exhibition as a "demonstration of lean plastic purity". In 1965, Stanczak's work was included in the
Museum of Modern Art's landmark exhibition
The Responsive Eye curated by William C. Seitz. Although the show was poorly received by the critics, it proved popular with the general public and helped establish
Op art as a distinct
art movement, while many participating artists received substantial market recognition. Stanczak, however, preferred to call his style "perceptual art" rather than "optical". In 1973, Stanczak designed a mural for a 12-story residential building in Cleveland called Carter Manor, which would subsequently become badly damaged due to the contractor's decision to use
enamel paint. The mural was eventually restored in 2018 by artists participating in that year's FRONT Triennial exhibition in Cleveland. As the popularity of Op art began to diminish in the late 1970s, superseded by such movements as
Minimalism and later
Postminimalism, Stanczak's work became progressively separated from mainstream American art. He continued to exhibit frequently until the end of his life, primarily in the
Midwest. In 2007, Stanczak was interviewed by
Brian Sherwin for
Myartspace Blog. During the interview, Stanczak recalled his experiences with war and the loss of his right arm and how both influenced his art. Stanczak explained: "The transition from using my left hand as my right, main hand, was very difficult. My youthful experiences with the atrocities of the Second World War are with me, but I wanted to forget them and live a 'normal' life and adapt into society more fully. In the search for art, you have to separate what is emotional and what is logical. (...) I looked for anonymity of actions through non-referential, abstract art". In 2008, Stanczak designed a 364-foot mural made of painted metal rods for the exterior of a corporate building in downtown Cincinnati. In 2013, Stanczak was awarded an honorary doctorate from
Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. For most of his life, he lived and worked in
Seven Hills, Ohio with his wife, sculptor Barbara Stanczak. He died at home on March 25, 2017 at the age of 88 following a short illness. == Select museum collections ==