Postać Świętego. Cynk. Adam Szubski (1931 - 2007)

Sometimes the choices I make when shopping seem irrational to me. The vast majority of people involved in art will dismiss an inconspicuous gray sculpture depicting a saint praying intently with indifference, if not aversion. This sculpture is neither beautiful in the traditional sense of the word, nor provocative, nor particularly memorable. It is ordinary, simple, inconspicuous, and yet "something" made me buy it.

Adam Szubski was born in 1931. His father was an artisan artist who worked with metal and achieved international success in this field. His son took over his workshop, although he had previously tried his hand at stonemasonry and stucco work for 10 years.

He was an independent artist, standing apart from the official art trend of the Polish People's Republic. Like his father, he worked mainly with metal, copper, iron, and zinc. His tools of the trade were an anvil, a welding machine, and hydrochloric acid, which he used to etch metal, making it a kind of trademark of his work. In the 1960s, he exhibited his works on the walls of the Warsaw Barbican and in a café on the market square. He belonged to the independent Art Barbakan association. Later, he was a member of Niezależni 69. Although he remained far from the official art scene (or perhaps because of this), he exhibited in France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Austria, as well as in the United States and Japan. I think that for an artist working independently, this was a huge success, especially since his works were purchased for many private and museum collections in Europe and around the world. The 1970s were the best period in Szubski's career. It was then that he moved to the Masurian village of Zgon. Fascinated by Masuria, he spent all the warm months of the year there with his wife for the rest of his life. He renovated a hundred-year-old cottage, turned it into a gallery for his own sculptures and established the Nasz Zgon association.

In his work, Szubski was above all unpretentious. The series "Faces" was created over a period of 10 years. He portrayed local residents, friends, distinctive faces, and human types. He worked using his own techniques, mixing metal, wood, fabric, paint, acrylic, and resin. He had a detached attitude toward his own art. He did not shy away from the grotesque or humor.

The sculpture I am exhibiting is actually two simple zinc sheet metal blocks with a copper halo. The saint's robes are etched in a manner characteristic of Szubski. I was captivated by its simplicity, brevity, and great humility in depicting the figure of the saint.

The sculpture is 35 cm high, 12 cm wide, and 7 cm deep. It has a stamped signature on the bottom.