Greetings space artists of the IAAA!
The IAAA Steam Team is proud to announce Kara Szathmary as The IAAA Artist of the Quarter: June 2025 and feature his astronomical artwork, Gathering Evidence: ArtPhysics of SGR A* as Space Art for the Art of the Quarter: June 2025!
ARTIST BIO
Genesis…the moment of creation has been a lifelong fascination sparking endless questions about the universe. Curiosity led me to explore space art, astronomy, physics, and mathematics.
As a child in Welland, Ontario, I wandered the streets with my two sisters and ended up at the library where I got “lost in the stacks.” Mesmerizing images of galaxies and nebulae ignited my lifelong passion.
Equally expressive in art, I used drawing to solve problems visually in physics and mathematics courses. I received an art award during my 8th year of school. Passion led me to graduate studies in astrophysics and condensed matter at the University of Western Ontario in 1970, where I discovered seven new white dwarfs as a result of my all-night studies using their 48-inch Richey-Cretien telescope. I completed my thesis on Low Dispersion Spectroscopy of White Dwarf Suspects.
Nature remained my artistic muse. Inspired by van Gogh, Tom Thomson, and the Group of Seven, I produced artworks the genre of ArtPhysics while teaching physics, mathematics, and computer science. I also exhibited paintings in Montreal and the Eastern Townships.
In 1983, my solo exhibition in Toronto, The Interwoven Fabric of Astronomy and Art, caught the attention of Jon Lomberg, Carl Sagan’s principal artist for Cosmos. He invited me to join the IAAA, launching my journey into space art.
Through the decades in the IAAA, I have attended 17 workshops, including Iceland, Hawaii and the US Southwest, Nicaragua, Star City and Moscow in USSR. In 2005, I was invited to give a presentation about Space Art during the “Impact of Space Activities upon Society” in Budapest, Hungary, at the National Academy of Sciences attended by worldwide audience.
In the IAAA, I have served three terms as President; a dozen years as CFO-Treasurer, and now the Director of Fellows.
Kara Szathmary MSc FIAAA
Social Media:
1) facebook.com/kara.szathmary
2) instagram.com/kbaszk
3) linkedin.com/in/kara-szathmary-0b89358/
IAAA Artist of the Quarter June 2025 - Kara Szathmary
Gathering Evidence: ArtPhysics of SGR A* as Space Art. Medium: Birch board 24 inches by 24 inches on the diamond point with horizontal and vertical spans of ~34 inches each. The birch board panel is prepared with three coats of gesso with Acrylic paint medium for the color renditions.
ARTWORK DESCRIPTION
After I finished my thesis, "Low Dispersion Spectroscopy of White Dwarf Stars," with the discovery of seven new white dwarf stars and received my MSc in Astrophysics in 1972, I declined the invitation to begin my Ph.D. at Queens University to study a galactic X-ray source in the constellation Cygnus. Eventually, it became the first such source widely accepted as a black hole.
Instead, I moved to Quebec to pursue my creative energies as a painter of ArtPhysics. In order to do so, I taught advanced mathematics to continue my studies in cosmology and particle physics.
In March 2005, I was invited to give a presentation at the Hungarian National Academy of Sciences in Budapest, Hungary, home of my maternal family.
Artists have been at the forefront of using their visual talents in the IAAA for over four decades. The International Association of Astronomical Artists has brought together the world’s foremost space artists on a regular basis to provide direction and stimulation for the membership: to share the beauty and imagination of space art with each other and with the public.
Today with rocket launches to the International Space Station, and space exploration entering a new vast frontier studded with burning stars and swirling galaxies to gather sensitive images.
Vast amounts of data are being returned to Earth regarding what we can expect to be “out there” in the space environment.
On May 12, 2022, astronomers shared the first images of the super massive black hole at the Galactic Center of our own Milky Way galaxy. Sagittarius A*, as viewed from Earth, is located near the border of the constellations Sagittarius and Scorpius.
As a prolific space artist myself that same month I recalled the hours I sat at my own computer in my study, imagining evidence that visually transported me toward new and exciting worlds of the cosmos—“Gathering Evidence: ArtPhysics of SGR-A* ” is a painting that captures the moments when all of the hours of research become the impetus for this work of art.
ATTENTION IAAA'S SOCIAL MEDIA MODERATORS
The IAAA STEAM Team requires your cooperation to share these posters on your respective social media before. Follow the link below for full resolution posters: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1dVTYR90MUDfdk7n9dukXp0a1W3fU_qS1?usp=sharing
- Please post the posters separately according to 2 categories:
- Poster for IAAA Artist of the Quarter.
- Posters for IAAA Art of the Quarter.
- Use the descriptions as captions for each post.
- As for X (Twitter) and Threads, since there is a limitation with the amount of words that can be included in each post, make a thread.
We would like to deliver our heartfelt thanks to Kara for sharing his journey as an inspirational space artist!
Thank you so much!
Nurul Syahirah Binti Nazarudin
Assistant Director of STEAM Team
