These two paintings illustrate the importance of light in Dr. Jozef Kolinski's artwork. Paintings by Kolenski, a Tusculum alumnus, will be on display in the Allison Gallery Sept. 17-Oct. 10.

Artwork of Tusculum alumnus to be on display during Homecoming

Paintings of Dr. Jozef Kolinski will be on display in the Allison Gallery at Tusculum College from Sept. 17 through Oct. 10.

The exhibit of the artwork by Kolinski, who is a class of 1947 alumnus of Tusculum, coincides with Homecoming 2002 activities on Sept. 20 and 21. Kolinski will be speaking about his artwork during an artist reception at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 20, at the Allison Gallery, which is inside the Annie Hogan Byrd Fine Arts Building.

Recent large-scale oil paintings by Kolinski as well as earlier pieces he completed in Germany and Russia will be on display. In his artwork, Dr. Kolinski does not aim at painting "beautiful" or "happy" canvasses, but rather thought paintings or "ideograms," which often lack color, like the Zen masters of ink drawing, who used landscapes to express thoughts and Zen ideology. In this sense, they are inner concepts that come from contemplation and expressed as visual landscapes: a way of bringing out feelings of something unsaid or unknown.

For example, light is an extremely important aspect of Kolinski's paintings; yet the source is never explained. The viewer must engage in a dialogue where questions are raised but no answers are given. While they do not appear so, they are highly mystical in the sense that they deal with a seeking of the unknown. Thus, one finds in these canvasses an exploration where one's personal experiences guide the journey.

Kolinski, who was born in Philadelphia of Polish-Russian parents, began painting at an early age. After the family moved to New Jersey, Kolinski received his first oils at age nine from his uncle Alexander Andrejeski, who was also his first teacher. By age 11, he was fairly proficient in drawing and painting, and at age 14 won two state awards for his pen and ink drawings.

During high school, he studied with Marie Carter Shellcope, who was a graduate of the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts. It was at this time that he mastered still lifes and a feeling for light in his subject matter. By the age of 17, he was living in New York City, where he developed a love for tenement buildings and made many paintings of them.

After less than a year in New York City, he left to attend Tusculum College, where he drew anatomical sketches, landscapes, flower studies, and portraits.

The college now owns several of his paintings, including flower studies; a detailed sketch of Doak Academy and a bird's eye view of the campus; a portrait of Dr. Thomas Voss (a former president of Tusculum College), which hangs in the President's gallery; and a painting of Shiloh, which hangs in the Board of Trustees room. All of these were student pieces, with the exception of the portrait of Dr. Voss which was done much later. He is a devoted Tusculum alumnus, and in 1963 became a member of the Board of Trustees, serving two terms.

The exhibitions in the Allison Gallery are organized and presented by the college in association with the Greeneville Arts Council.