Bogdan Mirowski (1945 Sopot - 2014 there), Fish, circa 1990.

author's technique (silver, natural amber, wood), size 56.5 × 78 cm
stamped in the rim with the artist's mark: "BOGDAN MIROWSKI/BIZART/SOPOT."

Bogdan Mirowski is one of the most original Polish artists working in silver and amber. His oeuvre includes unique sculptures and bas-reliefs, in which he combines silver with amber, wood, mother-of-pearl and other natural materials. "Fish" belongs to a group of several works with a similar theme. An analogous representation was exhibited at the exhibition "Ubrać amsztynową bryłę - Bogdan Mirowski" presented at the Castle Museum in Malbork from 19.05-30.09.2023, (il. I) and also published in the catalog "Bogdan Mirowski master of detail". (il. II) The work shows Mirowski's characteristic dialogue between silver and amber, as well as his masterful handling of detail, which has distinguished his unique style for years. His work is a combination of painting in metal and humanistic reflection. In his works we often find dynamic textures, multi-plane compositions and an emotional portrait of a man who becomes a carrier of ideas and memory of the past. Bohdan Mirowski's fish sculptures do not float in water - they float in the silence of matter. Their bodies are heavy with meaning, yet surprisingly light in gesture. Metal, wood or stone in Mirowski's work lose their literalness: hardness softens, rawness gains breath. The fish here is not a zoological object, but a form of focus - a symbol of movement, silence and duration. Each line of the back seems to remember the current that shaped it, each notch reminds us of time, which does not flow, but gouges. Mirowski does not sculpt realistic fish. He brings out their essence. He shortens them to a sign, to a rhythm, to a tension between solid and void. The fish in Mirowski's work is sometimes a totem, sometimes a relic, sometimes a silent witness to the world before the noise. It does not shout form - rather, it invites you to stop, to listen to the silence.