Charity has been in vogue of late, and with good reason: There’s an urgent need for it. Thanks to KK Kozik, artist and altruist, (with assistance from Black & White) some help is headed for Haiti. What kind of help? The unique services of www.Heifer.org.
Heifer International uniquely donates healthy livestock to countries and communities in need. They provide thirty different kinds of livestock, along with trees, seeds, and agricultural training to families in need, so that they can grow crops, sell the milk and eggs their animals produce, and begin to raise themselves out of poverty. The charity is Kozik’s favorite; one she admires for their ingenuity, and the fact that, “They help people help themselves.”
KK was in her element Friday night, when I dropped by for their Black and White Ball, smiling warmly and moving comfortably among friends (on the wall and off), fans, and buyers. With 5% of the exhibition’s sales going to Heifer International, with an additional 5% on top for sales made during that evening.
To see KK is to see a modest but playful artist; wearing a sensible black dress with hot pink nylons. To see KK’s work is nothing less than a pleasure. The exhibition, Imitation of Life, featured twenty of her pieces from the last few years. Most were oil paintings, but the gallery also included striking portraits; such as Lou Gherig’s touching farewell to Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939, captured in black and grey pastels on rag paper. Said Kozik, “It’s fun to do the portraits. In the paintings, I get to make people up. But the portraits… These people are real.”
