Againstwind

Bogusław Iwanowski (born 1934) comes from the area of Augustów, which after 1945 was part of the USSR. After spending several years in a labour camp in Kuybyshev, he lived in Szczecin from 1965. He worked at the Municipal Transport Company, where he was one of the founders of the Solidarity Trade Union (1980). He has been sculpting since the 1960s. In the 1990s he moved to Tyrawa Wołoska in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship. In the Bieszczady Mountains, he abandoned the ‘Szczecin’ themes, namely, Pomeranian princes, warriors, fishermen at work, in favour of Polish kings, Marshal Piłsudski and Pope John Paul II. The sculpture ‘Against the wind’ is his typical work, characterised by the texturing of the whole surface of the wood so that the number, depth, and direction of the engravings is the basic, and often the only, artistic means. In the sculpture ‘Against the wind’, we see a realistic representation: a woman struggling against a strong wind blowing straight into her face. However, we can look at her metaphorically and perceive her as one of the Barges, the one who weaves a brutal fate marked with adversities.

Iwona Karwowska