Zygmunt MATUSIAK, Bas-relief "Face"

metal; 1.7 x 36.6 x 35.5 cm
on back original label: AUTHOR ZYGMUNT MATUSIAK / TITLE FLATSCAPE / DESCRIPTION "FACE" / IDENTIFICATION NO. / PRICE 400 000
Condition of preservation: traces of rust.

"The artist's adventure with artistic blacksmithing, which is a not very popular field of art, began by accident, with the making of a brooch for his wife. Then came the turn for more trinkets and gaining experience, crowned with a master's diploma. Zygmunt Matusiak's creativity developed in two directions - on the one hand, there were utility and decorative objects, produced mainly for Cepelia. On the other hand, he created individual works, thoroughly original, arising from an internal need, sometimes made for individual orders, and this was the main, extremely interesting trend of the metalworker's creative search. All of his works testified to his excellent knowledge and feel for the raw material, the technology of its processing and the affection he had for the material he chose, which is not easy to process.
The artist's love of metal as an artistic material led to the creation of fine compositions out of hard metal sheets, forged coldly, with laborious effort. Slowly, under the influence of successive strokes, chiseling, polishing and patination, they became extremely plastic, came to life. Relief paintings, large-format posters of diverse themes and sources of creative inspiration in their aesthetics referred to cubism and the best achievements of sculpture of the first half of the 20th century. The artist synthesized and simplified the form, sometimes leading to strong geometrization, the paintings were built from planes emphasized by strong lines, differentiated by texture. Sometimes to enrich the textural effects he resorted to etching metal sheets in acid, he was also unfamiliar with the juxtaposition of steel and brass, which emphasized the drama and introduced sophisticated color effects.
Economy of means of expression, juxtaposed with perfection of workshop made Zygmunt Matusiak's relief art catch the eye.
He was involved in metalwork since 1963, and ran a military workshop, where he educated and convinced several talented students to this difficult craft. After retiring from the military in 1981, he experienced a flowering of creative possibilities, and could finally devote himself entirely to what he liked best.(Text: Katarzyna Wolska, Cultural Center in Bydgoszcz)