Edmund Kara (17 October 192525 May 2001) was an American fashion illustrator and designer, interior designer, and sculptor on the
Big Sur
Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast of California between Carmel and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. It is frequently praised for its dramatic scenery. Big Sur ha ...
coast of
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
.
Biography
Education and early career
Kara was born in
Roselle Park, New Jersey
Roselle Park is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Union County, New Jersey, Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 13,297,"Outrageous Energy and Very Good Discipline" Edmund Kara. Accessed September 25, 2015. "Kara was born in 1925 in Roselle Park, New Jersey, the grandson of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe." His interest in art began at an early age. He attended New Jersey's Arts High School.
At the age of 18, Kara moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and started working in the display department of
Macy's
Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
. He soon moved to fashion illustration for advertising agencies. He was introduced to
Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of th ...
, and was soon designing her performance wardrobe. Kara also designed for
Peggy Lee
Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, over a career spanning seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalis ...
Keely Smith
Dorothy Jacqueline Keely (March 9, 1928The reference work ''The Encyclopedia of Native Music: More Than a Century of Recordings from Wax Cylinder to the Internet'' gives Smith's date of birth as March 9, 1932. – December 16, 2017), profession ...
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...
, Maria. Kara then designed for custom collections for Rosette Pennington and Jewel, among other custom houses in both New York and
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. He went on to create his own label.
Kara also worked in Los Angeles in the 1950s and doing theatrical wardrobe and costume design for both
Universal
Universal is the adjective for universe.
Universal may also refer to:
Companies
* NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company
** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal
** Universal TV, a t ...
and
Paramount Studios
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production and distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldest film studio in the world, the second-oldest ...
. He also worked doing freelance interior design.
Later years and fine arts career
Finding the business aspects of the fashion industry repetitive, stressful, and stifling, Kara yearned for a change of lifestyle that led him to take a bicycle trip in 1953 around the world for two years. Though he returned to Los Angeles, but he would soon move to Big Sur in 1962 to find his passion of sculpture and establish a simpler existence.
It was in Big Sur that he became a wood sculptor creating a body of work ranging from masks and head figures to abstract pieces. His woodwork was fashioned from wood grown in Big Sur that was found or was given to him. He almost entirely used the reductive method. "I'm a worker. I belong to the working class. I love physical labor, that's why I chose wood," he told writer Rick Deragon in 1990.
Kara focused solely on creating art for almost 40 years in the isolated setting of his coastal studio. Images of Kara in his studio can be seen in
Kurt Edward Fishback
Kurt Edward Fishback is an American photographer noted for his portraits of other artists and photographers. Kurt was born in Sacramento, CA in 1942. Son of photographer Glen Fishback and namesake of photographer Edward Weston, he was exposed to ...
's book of photographs entitled Art in Residence: West Coast Artists in their Spaces. Kara said to David J. Brown, "I thought, capitalism annihilates creativity because you start working for bucks, rather than just working to be an artist."
Showings, commission and public collections
Though Kara focused on producing his work, he did have several notable showings and his work appeared in locations around California. In 1965, his redwood sculpture of Elizabeth Taylor was commissioned for and appeared in Taylor's film ''
The Sandpiper
''The Sandpiper'' is a 1965 American drama film directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.
Plot
Laura Reynolds is a free-spirited, unwed single mother living with her young son Danny in an isolated beach house ...
''. This film brought him exposure in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
and beyond. "Elizabeth came to see it to make sure I was not doing something outrageous. She approved," Kara told Curtis. A short promotional film calle Statue for the Sandpiper (an original movie promotion) features Kara in action. He was flown to the unveiling in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
where the actors and producers viewed and commented on the piece.
In 1990, Kara held a retrospective show of his collection in Los Angeles. It was one of the only times the entire collection was shown at one time. Kara also created several large door pieces as commissions for private collectors in
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
for a 12,000 square foot home and for another 18,000 square foot home in
Walnut Creek
A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, ''Juglans regia''.
Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true bo ...
. He later created doors for the Congregation Beth Israel Temple in Carmel Valley. He also created doors for
Clint Eastwood
Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...
and Maggie Johnson in
Pebble Beach
Pebble Beach is an unincorporated community on the Monterey Peninsula in Monterey County, California. The small coastal residential community of mostly single-family homes is also notable as a resort destination, and the home of the golf course ...
when they were married.
Kara's work can be seen in Big Sur at the Café Keva and at the famous restaurant,
Nepenthe
Nepenthe ( grc, νηπενθές, ) is a fictional medicine for sorrow – a "drug of forgetfulness" mentioned in ancient Greek literature and Greek mythology, depicted as originating in Egypt..
The carnivorous plant genus ''Nepenthes'' is name ...
, where the 'Phoenix Bird' statue perches above the ocean and landmark for tourist and locals alike.
Below is a list of his significant works on display in the United States:
* 'Janus'
Vero Beach Museum of Art
The Vero Beach Museum of Art is located at 3001 River Park Drive, Vero Beach, Florida. It houses regional, state and national art exhibits and includes a sculpture garden. The Vero Beach Museum of Art is the principal cultural arts facility of i ...
* 'Five Avatars'
Self-Realization Fellowship
Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) is a worldwide spiritual organization founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1920 and legally incorporated as a non-profit religious organization in 1935, to serve as Yogananda's instrument for the preservation ...
* 'Seven Point Flame'Doors for Congregation Beth Israel, Carmel Valley
* 'Double Helix'
Monterey Peninsula College
Monterey Peninsula College (MPC) is a public community college in Monterey, California. Established in 1947, it is a part of the California Community Colleges system. There are two additional MPC campuses located in Marina, CA, and Seaside, ...
* 'Phoenix Bird'Nepenthe Restaurant
* 'Turtle Fountain'Café Keva
Kara's artistry can be seen in his work ranging from religious, political, and socially significant pieces, to the mythical and esoteric. Kara's collection can still be seen online or by appointment.
See also
Kurt Edward Fishback
Kurt Edward Fishback is an American photographer noted for his portraits of other artists and photographers. Kurt was born in Sacramento, CA in 1942. Son of photographer Glen Fishback and namesake of photographer Edward Weston, he was exposed to ...
References
Sources
* Art in Residence: West Coast Artists in Their Space. (2000),
* Brin M. David. "Outrageous Energy and Very Good Discipline." Edmund Kara biography, 2008. http://www.edmundkara.com/biography
* Brown, David J. Person interview. 1996, published Monterey Herald.
* Curtis, Jahn. Personal interview. 1986
* Deragon, Rick. Artist Biography for Edmund Kara Exhibition. 1990