Takács received her BFA in Illustration and Portrait Painting from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1986. Takács has staged serial projects painting senior citizens and elderly nuns from life. These projects have yielded over fifty paintings, three solo shows, a feature in Anthropology & Aging Quarterly and placements in juried and invitational shows. In 2014 she published a book of these collected portraits of the elderly called, The Age of Adventure. In 2009 she began both painting and blogging her project; Chicks with Balls: Judy Takács paints unsung female heroes. For this series, she asked her female friends and family to pose topless, holding balls to symbolize their personal challenges. In 2013, Takács authored and published, Chicks with Balls: Judy Takács paints unsung female heroes. and received an Ohio Arts Council Grant for Individual Artistic Excellence for the series which became a traveling exhibition. Takács' work has been recognized by the Portrait Society of America, the Art Renewal Center, the National Arts Club, Cincinnati Arts Club, Allied Artists of America, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Club, and the Salmagundi Club, NYC. She has participated in Women Painting Women Exhibitions along with Rachel Constantine, Alia El-Bermani, Diane Fiesel and Sadie Valeri, and multiple Poets/Artists publications and live exhibitions. Takács' work is archived at the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve. Her work has been exhibited at the Butler Institute of American Art, the Zanesville Museum of Art, Evansville Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, Haggin Museum and ARTneo. Takács' work is included in the permanent collections of Susquehanna University and ARTneo. In 2014, Takács curated Majority Rising for the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve during Women's History Month. Choosing work from Clevelandfigurative artists, Shirley Aley Campbel, Kathleen McKenna, Marilyn Szalay, Lee Heinen and Marsha Sweet. Takács painted and exhibited a portrait of each artist as well. In 2016 Takács was one of the nine artists, including Stephanie Deshpande, Lauren Tilden, Mario Robinson, and Terry Strickland, who participated in the Emanuel Nine Portrait Project at Principle Gallery, honoring the victims of the Charleston church shooting. She painted a portrait of Rev. Dr. Daniel Simmons Sr. In 2018 Takács had her two-artist inaugural exhibition with the late Marilyn Szalay at the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve. Takács and Szalay were referred to as “two titans of figurative art” in Cleveland Scene Magazine. The exhibition showed 12 works from each artist and was entitled, "Szalay…Takács…Secrets." The theme for the works included dealt with the concept of hidden meanings in art, some of which go to the grave with the artist. Takács is past chair of the New Media Relations sub-committee of the Portrait Society of America Cecilia Beaux Forum, and now holds a board position as Social Media Chair for the Allied Artists of America. Takács' father is Queueing theory pioneer, Lajos Takács and her mother, is the author Dalma Takács.
Art
Takács' painting, Cancer Honeymoon depicts Takács’ mother, Dalma Takács during the early stages of ovarian cancer. She continues this theme with her paintings, Guardian Angel of the Good Death and Serenity Prayer and the Ephemera Collector Series. Greed: Guarded Idealist, 2013 Best of Show winner at the Chagrin Valley Art Center Annual Juried Show is inspired by the concept of the Seven deadly sins as human traits necessary for survival. This work portrays “Greed” as the guardian and protector of ones artistic vision and idealism. Kim, the Keeper of Time is from Takács’ Chicks with Balls series. Jewelry artist, Kim Mettee chose alpaca yarn balls and demonstrated the meditative process of rolling them as she posed.
