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Jay Koka Studio
TEN
a Retrospective of the Tenth
Anniversary Book |
ON
EXHIBITING
by Jack Schwartz
Each year, for the past fifteen, on the first weekend of August, one
of America's finest Automotive Art exhibits is held on the rolling grounds of
Meadow Brook Hall at Oakland University near Rochester Hills, Michigan. This
event is held in conjunction with the Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance and
together they comprise one of the most impressive displays of automotive beauty
assembled for public viewing. As Chair of the Art Committee, it is my privilege
to lead a group of automobile and art experts through the discovery and
selection of automotive artists to exhibit at this show. An initial
qualification is that these artists derive their living by creating fine art
sculptures, paintings or drawings focused on the automobile. The selection
process nominates about fifty artists from around the world as candidates. The
candidates work is then reviewed based on their use of the automobile in a fine
art form; excellence in artistic design and application; execution and
presentation. The Art Committee narrows the candidates to a group of fourteen
artists who are then invited to show at the Meadow Brook Concours
d'Elegance.
To be selected as one
of the fourteen individuals exhibiting at the show is considered a high honor
by most artists, not only because of the competitive selection process but also
because the exhibit attracts an exclusive gathering of national and foreign
automotive executives and aficionados. Through the support and generosity of
the concours audience, the show and sale of automotive art generates more than
$100,000 benefiting the exhibitors and the preservation of Meadow Brook
Hall.
The ultimate honor for a
Meadow Brook exhibitor is to be selected as the annual Featured Artist. This
honor includes the responsibility for creating the original art for the
Concours poster that is extensively used to promote the event. jay Koka has
been selected many years in succession as an exhibitor and in 1992 was selected
as the featured artist. His original art and posters for that year stand today
as one of the most impressive ever created and presented at the
Concours.
Koka's abilities in the
creative interpretation of the automobile both graphically and factually are
unsurpassed. His style is one of authentic representation of the vehicle. He is
strong in communicating the dramatic personality of the subject while
illustrating precisely the converging and integrated shapes that make the image
distinctive. Koka's presentation strongly incorporates the importance of
background which graphically interacts with the vehicle. Combining these
elements with outstanding use of color and texture, jay brings the vehicle out
from the canvas. Drawing and painting any vehicle is a challenge for an artist
as each vehicle possesses individual characteristics, proportions and "good
sides" that create and express its personality. To capture its true "portrait"
requires a knowledge far beyond understanding the shapes. jay's love of sports
cars and his knowledge and understanding of the marques contribute to the
accuracy of his work and the colors in his palette. He has consistently brought
forth these qualities in his work as exemplified in the use of darkness,
shadows or night in 'Bugatti' (1971) and 'Lusso' (1989). He can also ably focus
on the key lines of a vehicle as demonstrated in 'Headlights' (1986) and the
more recent 'Atlantic' (1991) skill giving his audience only a partial glimpse
of the surfaces but they allow almost instant recognition of the vehicle and in
certain cases, identity of the year.
Such rendering skills and choice of subject matter allowed our Art
Committee to unanimously select jay as the featured artist in 1992. The
featured marque for that year was "French Custom Body Builders". These vehicles
represent a styling flair that has been unequaled and illustration of such cars
is extremely challenging because of proportion, blending of shapes and the
elegance of line. jay chose the superb 1937 Bugatti Atlantic Coupe, a vehicle
whose character lines are wildly divergent on sharply curving surfaces that
interact with flat planes. To emphasize its elegance, Jay chose to illustrate
the car at night with only the interior lights of Meadow Brook Hall
illuminating the 'far side' of the vehicle. Reflected light from the
cobblestone drive softly illuminates the 'featured side' of the black and red
Bugatti. The technical challenge was met and the painting became one of the
most spectacular works ever exhibited at the Concours, fetching $39,000 at the
charity auction. Jay's vision in composition, execution and daring gave Meadow
Brook Hall its first illustration of the hall and vehicle in the darkness of
night.
My favorite work of Jay's
is the 'Wooden Rocket'. I love this work not because the car is my favorite or
my intrigue with its style, but because I so admire the skill Jay has used in
illustrating the shape of the vehicle with the grain of the wood and the sheen
of the high-gloss clear coat. That, coupled with the polished brass and chrome,
allows me to feel the essence of a very special automobile, a very special
painting technique from a very special artist all at once. Jay has thrilled his
audiences each year with his newest examples of art and the automobile. We
anxiously await his latest expressions at Meadow Brook Hall next
August!
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k20.ca Introduction | Making the
Artist | 20 Year
Retrospective Gallery | Print
Library | Jay
Koka Studio TEN 
