April 2026

Jazz Visions by Ken Klopack

Nat Cole by Ken Klopack

Artist Statement:

I’ve created a series of works that are visual inventions of compositions by jazz artists such as Nat King Cole, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington, Stan Getz and others. Taking a page out of Wassily Kandinsky’s artworks about music, I’ve interpreted the music of these legendary artists in a personal way. The colors, shapes and line that dominate my paintings convey the sounds that I hear in their performances and the visual puzzle on canvas entices the observer to be free to decipher.

About Ken Klopack:

Ken Klopack, acrylic painter, political cartoonist and art teacher has taught art in the Chicago Public Schools, the Art Institute of Chicago and Miami of Ohio University. Now retired from full-time teaching, he is an art and gifted education consultant, teaching in Chicago and in Door County, WI.

Ken has won several education awards, including the Golden Apple Award, the Kohl International Teaching Award, and Elementary Art Educator of the Year in Illinois by IAEA in ‘97. He has been active in the Midwest art scene and also exhibited in New York, West Hampton Beach and Wisconsin. Ken was part of Chicago’s Cool Globes Project. He participated in the public art display,“The Great Chicago Fire Hydrant Exhibition” and has exhibited public art in Door County Wisconsin for many years. Ken is the author of “Show Off Your Art,” a contributing author to “School Arts Magazine”, “Arts and Activities,” and “Best Classroom Practices: What Award-Winning Elementary Teachers Do.” 

Leslie Wolfe Gallery
1763 N North Park Avenue 
Chicago
312-337-1938
Reception: Sunday, April 12, 2026 2-4 PM 
On view: April 12 – May 7