Judy Takács (born 1962, New York) is a contemporary figurative painter, known for her realistic paintings from her ongoing, traveling portrait series, ''Chicks with Balls: Judy Takács paints unsung female heroes''. “Takács is a

figurative artist Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork (particularly paintings and sculptures) that is clearly derived from real object sources and so is, by definition, representational. The term is often in contrast to abstract a ...

who tells stories about people who have something uplifting to share.” She is an elected member of, and past Social Media Chair for Allied Artists of America. She is past Social Media Chair and Literature Committee writer for the Cecilia Beaux Forum of the

Portrait Society of America Portrait Society of America is an art organization based in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. Established in 1998, the Portrait Society of America is a 501(C)3 registered charity was set to serve the purpose of an art education organization to ...

. In 2018, Takács was elected to membership in the Salmagundi Art Club and the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club in New York City. She holds Signature Status with

American Women Artists American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and Akron Society of Artists. She lives and works in

Solon, Ohio Solon ( ) is a city in southeastern Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. A suburb of Cleveland, it is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area. According to the 2020 census, the population of Solon was 24,262. The city has been recognized by ''M ...

Biography

Takács received her BFA in Illustration and Portrait Painting from the

Cleveland Institute of Art The Cleveland Institute of Art, previously Cleveland School of Art, is a private college focused on art and design and located in Cleveland, Ohio. History The college was founded in 1882 as the Western Reserve School of Design for Women, at firs ...

in 1986. Takács has staged serial projects painting senior citizens and elderly nuns from life. These projects have yielded over fifty paintings, three solo shows, a feature in Anthropology & Aging Quarterly and placements in juried and invitational shows. In 2014 she published a book of these collected portraits of the elderly called, ''The Age of Adventure''. In 2009 she began both painting and blogging her project; ''Chicks with Balls: Judy Takács paints unsung female heroes''. For this series, she asked her female friends and family to pose topless, holding balls to symbolize their personal challenges. In 2013, Takács authored and published, ''Chicks with Balls: Judy Takács paints unsung female heroes''. and received an

Ohio Arts Council The Ohio Arts Council (OAC) is an agency serving the U.S. state of Ohio. History Established in 1965, its mission is to "foster and encourage the development of the arts and assist the preservation of Ohio's cultural heritage." Each year it award ...

Grant for Individual Artistic Excellence for the series which became a traveling exhibition. Takács' work has been recognized by the Portrait Society of America, the

Art Renewal Center The Art Renewal Center (ARC) is a non-profit, educational organization, which hosts an online museum dedicated to realist art. The ARC was founded by New Jersey businessman, author, and art collector Fred Ross. Particular emphasis is given to ...

, the

National Arts Club The National Arts Club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and members club on Gramercy Park, Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1898 by Charles DeKay, an art and literary critic of the ''New York Times'' to "stimulate, foster, and promote public ...

, Cincinnati Arts Club, Allied Artists of America, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Club, and the

Salmagundi Club The Salmagundi Club, sometimes referred to as the Salmagundi Art Club, is a fine arts center founded in 1871 in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan, New York City. Since 1917, it has been located at 47 Fifth Avenue. , its membership roster ...

, NYC. She has participated in Women Painting Women Exhibitions along with Rachel Constantine, Alia El-Bermani, Diane Fiesel and Sadie Valeri, and multiple Poets/Artists publications and live exhibitions. Takács' work is archived at the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve. Her work has been exhibited at the

Butler Institute of American Art The Butler Institute of American Art, located on Wick Avenue in Youngstown, Ohio, United States, was the first museum dedicated exclusively to American art. Established by local industrialist and philanthropist Joseph G. Butler, Jr., the museum h ...

, the Zanesville Museum of Art, Evansville Museum,

Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these i ...

Haggin Museum The Haggin Museum is an art museum and local history museum in Stockton, San Joaquin County, California, located in the city's Victory Park. The museum opened in 1931. Its art collection includes works by European painters Jean Béraud, Rosa Bonh ...

and ARTneo. Takács' work is included in the permanent collections of

Susquehanna University Susquehanna University is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. Its name is derived from the original Susquehannock settlers of the region. Founded in 1858 as a m ...

and ARTneo. In 2014, Takács curated ''Majority Rising'' for the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve during

Women's History Month Women's History Month is an annual declared month that highlights the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. It is celebrated during March in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, corresponding with ...

. Choosing work from

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

figurative artists, Shirley Aley Campbell, Kathleen McKenna, Marilyn Szalay, Lee Heinen and Marsha Sweet. Takács painted and exhibited a portrait of each artist as well. In 2016 Takács was one of the nine artists, including

Stephanie Deshpande Stephanie Deshpande (born 1975) is a contemporary American painter, best known for her portraits and narrative paintings. She currently lives in northern New Jersey. Education Deshpande attended high school in Massachusetts, and completed a BFA ...

, Lauren Tilden,

Mario Robinson Mario Andres Robinson (born 1970) is an American painter, pastellist, and draftsman. Robinson was born in Altus, Oklahoma. At the age of 12 he moved with family to New Jersey. He was encouraged to develop his innate talent for the expression of v ...

, and Terry Strickland, who participated in the

Emanuel Nine On June 17, 2015, a mass shooting occurred in Charleston, South Carolina, in which nine African Americans were killed during a Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Among those people who were killed was the senior past ...

Portrait Project at Principle Gallery, honoring the victims of the

Charleston church shooting On June 17, 2015, a mass shooting occurred in Charleston, South Carolina, in which nine African Americans were killed during a Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Among those people who were killed was the senior past ...

. She painted a portrait of Rev. Dr. Daniel Simmons Sr. In 2018 Takács had her two-artist inaugural exhibition with the late Marilyn Szalay at the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve. Takács and Szalay were referred to as “two titans of figurative art” in Cleveland Scene Magazine. The exhibition showed 12 works from each artist and was entitled, "Szalay…Takács…Secrets." The theme for the works included dealt with the concept of hidden meanings in art, some of which go to the grave with the artist. Takács is past chair of the New Media Relations sub-committee of the

Cecilia Beaux Forum, and past Social Media Chair for the Allied Artists of America. Takács' father is

Queueing theory Queueing theory is the mathematical study of waiting lines, or queues. A queueing model is constructed so that queue lengths and waiting time can be predicted. Queueing theory is generally considered a branch of operations research because the ...

pioneer,

Lajos Takács Lajos Takács (August 21, 1924 (Maglód) – December 4, 2015) was a Hungarian mathematician, known for his contributions to probability theory and in particular, queueing theory. He wrote over two hundred scientific papers and six books. He st ...

and her mother, is the author Dalma Takács.

Art

Takács' painting, ''Cancer Honeymoon'' depicts Takács’ mother, Dalma Takács during the early stages of

ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different c ...

. She continues this theme with her paintings, ''Guardian Angel of the Good Death'' and ''Serenity Prayer'' and the Ephemera Collector Series. ''Greed: Guarded Idealist'', 2013 Best of Show winner at the Chagrin Valley Art Center Annual Juried Show is inspired by the concept of the

Seven deadly sins The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, is a grouping and classification of vices within Christian teachings. Although they are not directly mentioned in the Bible, there are parallels with the seven things ...

as human traits necessary for survival. This work portrays “Greed” as the guardian and protector of ones artistic vision and idealism. ''Kim, the Keeper of Time'' is from Takács’ Chicks with Balls series. Jewelry artist, Kim Mettee chose

alpaca The alpaca (''Lama pacos'') is a species of South American camelid mammal. It is similar to, and often confused with, the llama. However, alpacas are often noticeably smaller than llamas. The two animals are closely related and can successfu ...

yarn balls and demonstrated the meditative process of rolling them as she posed.

Bibliography

*Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, March 2021, Issue 32, Judy Takács and Shana Levenson: Artist to Artist, Armidale, Australia *The Artists Magazine, September 2018, A Happy Medium: Judy Takács, Grand Prize Winner in the All Media Art Competition, F-W Media, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio *Poets/Artists Sight Unseen, February 2016, Didi Menendez, with curator Alia El-Bermani, Poets/Artists, Chicago, Illinois *The Archives Speak, November 2014, Rota Sackerlotzky and Roger Welchans, The Artists Archives of the Western Reserve, Cleveland, Ohio *Age of Adventure: Judy Takács paints the retired and inspired, August 2014, Judy Takács, blurb.com, Cleveland, Ohio * Women Painting Women, September 2014. Matter Deep Publishing, Principle Gallery, South Carolina *

International Salon Catalog 2013/14. August 2014 *Present Tense: Contemporary Art in Ohio, Artists of Rubber CIty. November 2014. *Manifest Gallery International Painting Annual 3. January 2014. Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio *Chicks with Balls: Judy Takács paints unsung female heroes, August 2013, blurb.com *Solon Senior Project: Judy Takács paints fascinating wisdom, November 2012, blurb.com

References

External links

Artist Portfolio and Website

Cleveland Scene Magazine Article by Joseph Clark

Sankofa Review Article by Gabriella Dellosso Gonzales

Television Interview on "Artists at Work"

Film of Gallery Show, Chicks with Balls: Judy Takács paints unsung female heroes at Cuyahoga Community College Gallery East
{{DEFAULTSORT:Takács, Judy 1962 births Living people American contemporary painters 21st-century American painters Artists from Cleveland American women painters 20th-century American painters Modern painters Cleveland Institute of Art alumni American portrait painters Artists from Ohio 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American women artists

Biography

Art

Bibliography

See also

References

External links