About Harold Olejarz

Harold Olejarz invites viewers to peer through a kaleidoscope in his circular constructed pieces. His career began in 3D as a sculptor, earning a BA from Brooklyn College and MFA from Pratt Institute and participating actively in the Soho cooperative gallery movement. By the 80s, he adapted his sculptures to be wearable and incorporate performance into his art. He performed and exhibited in various museums across the country, to name just a few: New Museum, The Newark Museum, The Morris Museum and The Jersey City Museum. He has participated in solo and group exhibitions and performances in throughout the United States and participated in reviews nationally and internationally. He has been awarded many times not only as an artist but also as an art educator. In the 90s he explored digital imaging to capture the ‘performances’ of objects on a digital scanner using his hand and objects. These images became the bridge between his performances and digital images. His present work looks beyond the typical rectangular confines of the frame and instead creates circular, collaged images consisting of repeating, rotating slices reminiscent of a pinwheel or mandala. This invites viewers to focus on relationships of the images and reveal intricate and delightful patterns.  

His works surprise from the first glance. First by its circular forms. Then by the repetition of patterns revealed in the image. The process of creating these digital images is an experimentation. Artist edit image of the building, landscape, an art object or nature then copy it and rotate it. The whole process is repeated until the circle is finished. This is another surprise when it comes to his works, this is also something that make the kaleidoscopic, puzzle-like images so engaging. We can focus on noticing differences and similarities, repetitions and patterns. We are drawn into the vortex of shapes, colors, objects, flora and fauna. 


New Brunswick Art Salon 2021 – Photography: “Shifted Nature”

His works surprise from the first glance. First by its circular forms. Then by the repetition of patterns revealed in the image. The process of creating these digital images is an experimentation. The whole process is repeated until the circle is finished. This is another surprise when it comes to his works, this is also something that make the kaleidoscopic, puzzle-like images so engaging.

Artist Personal Website: http://www.digitalharold.com

Email: holejarz@gmail.com


Artist Statement

There is a kaleidoscopic, puzzle-like aspect to my images that make them engaging. The images are not the rectangular image one expects from a traditional photograph; they are circular, composed of slices of photographs that are repeated and rotated. Repetition of colors and forms encourages viewers to focus on the relationships of the objects to itself and the other objects in the image. The images are about differences and similarities, repetition and patterns. Rather than experience a field of vision, viewers are brought into a vortex of shapes, colors, objects, flora and fauna. The images evoke pinwheels, kaleidoscopes, mandalas and ammonites. They encourage viewers to delight in the repetition and patterns revealed in the constructed image.

The process of creating my digital images is, at its heart, experimental. I use a photograph I have taken of a building, an art object, nature or landscape and edit the image. Then, I repeat and rotate the image. Patterns evolve as the image is copied, repeated and rotated. I take great pleasure in seeing a constructed image come into being. When the circle is complete, I once again experiment with different ways to “finish” the image. I may rotate the image or edit different layers in the image to reveal a different aspect of the constructed image. I may also copy the “pinwheel” and rotate it so that it reflects and/or doubles the original constructed image.


Exhibitions

Solo

  • 1991 – Bergen Museum, Paramus, NJ, collaboration with Lynn H. Butler
  • 1990 1990 – Paterson Museum, Paterson, New Jersey
  • 1985 – 14 Sculptors Gallery, New York, New York
  • 1980 – 14 Sculptors Gallery
  • 1979 – Contemporary Arts Gallery, New York University, New York

Group (selected)

  • 2019 – The Yard, Brooklyn, NY
  • 2019 – Juxtaposition, Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY
  • 2019 – The Gallery, Livingston, NJ2009 – New Jersey Green, Arts Council of Morris Area, Morristown, NJ
  • 2008 – Photograph of NJ, Pierro Gallery, South Orange, NJ
  • 2008 – Inside & Out, Maloney Art Gallery, College of Saint Elizabeth, Morristown, NJ
  • 2007 – New Jersey Arts Annual, Noyes Museum, Oceanville, NJ
  • 2003 – Analog/Digital, City Without Walls, Newark, NJ2002 – Off The Wall, Jersey City Museum Benefit, Jersey City, NJ
  • 2002 – Exit 15E, NJ Turnpike, Robeson Gallery, Rutgers Univ., Newark
  • 2001 – 2001.1, Digital Salon, Stele Gallery, Las Cruces, New Mexico2000 – Spectra Digital Arts Gallery, New York, NY
  • 2000 – Digital Art Museum, www.digitalartmuseum.com
  • 2000 – Living Artist Gallery, www.livingartistgallery.com
  • 1997 – 1+1=3, Alicia Torres, New York, New York
  • 1994 – Eyes Open Minds, The Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ
  • 1993 – New Jersey Arts Annual, The Newark Museum
  • 1993 – NJ Arts Fellowship Exhibition, Stedman Art Gallery, Camden, NJ
  • 1992 – C.A.G.E., Cincinnati, Ohio
  • 1990 – Site Sculpture, Arts Festival of Atlanta, curated by Lowery Sims
  • 1990 – The New Museum, Annual Auction Benefit, New York
  • 1989 – The Gallery at Hastings on Hudson, New York
  • 1986 – Allan Stone Gallery, New York

Selected Performances

  • The Newark Museum, Newark NJ, February and March 1993
  • First Night, Boston, Mass., December, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992
  • Arts Festival of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, September, 1990, 1991
  • The World Trade Center, New York City, December, 1990
  • Pusey Library, Harvard University, Boston, Mass., November, 1990
  • Best of the Fest, The Dance Hall, Cincinnati, OH, October, 1990
  • Walker’s Point Center For The Arts, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October, 1990
  • Cleveland Public Theater Performance Art Festival, OH, 1989, 1990
  • The New Museum, New York, April, 1988

Artist Interview