Abstract

Every time we stand in front of the new works of sacred art created by the hands of a priest-artist, Salesian Don Bosco, Father Tadeusz Furdyna, we become multidimensional not only because of the scale of the works and the bold throwing of them Depth, surprised by the innovation and freshness of the creative look at the traditional iconographic theme, but also by the tangible, mysterious, enigmatic formal - stylistic layer, which perfectly interacts with the poetic, often surrealistic content. The priest Tadeusz Furdyna (b. 1930) has been combining the ministry of God's word and the plastic image with the same willingness to make sacrifices and talent for almost forty years.The artist practiced all art disciplines with equal success: monumental painting, mosaic and glass painting, sculpture, graphics, book illustration, easel painting. Each of the furnishings of these interiors has its own distinct stylistic-formal language, often dependent on the architectural character, artistic genius loci of a city and place, the name of the church, the soul of the religious assembly or parish that oversees it. You can see that the artist is always looking for new means of expression, using his own language of artistic expression in such a way that one can recognize his hand, characteristic drawing deformations, the contours, color value tensions, line and spot dynamics at first glance.The main direction in the work of the priest — artist are complex arrangements of sacred interiors. In this way, spatial compositions are created that combine various art disciplines such as: mosaic, sculpture, monumental painting and window mosaic. So we are surrounded by the well-known compositions, decorative formal solutions — sometimes poetic and lyrical (as in the Salesian Church of the Holy Name Stanislaus Kostka in Płock, project  1983-84, realization 1988-96), surrounded by light and clear, airy space, sometimes full of expression and monumental power (in the Church of Saint Maximilian Kolbe in Konin, project 1974-75, realization 1975 -77) and huge "symphonic" ones that sound like Te Deum.Each design of these spaces has its own distinct stylistic formal language, often from the architectural character, stylistic "genius loci" of a city and place, from the name of the church and the spirituality of the order or parish that ministers to that church, dependent. You can see that the artist is always looking for new means of expression, using his own language of artistic expression in such a way that we always, at first glance, see his hand, characteristic drawing deformations, contour style, value tensions, spot and line dynamics recognize.The interiors of P. Furdyna often include typical elements of traditional church furnishings, of course they are always surprising from the formal and compositional side. However, in the artist's work we find works that break with conventional solutions, without touching the liturgical rules. An example of such a sacral interior is the plasterwork of the Salesian church of the Ostrobramska Mother of God in Suwałki (project 1992-93, realization 1993-98). The role of the altarpiece is taken on here by a monumental mosaic window (depicting the Last Supper), which is expressive in terms of colouring, and  the entire interior is bound together by a softly looping strip of ferroconcrete (completely abstracted by its shape) provided with polychromy. This stripe is reminiscent of the bibei roll or the tablecloth. He also transfers, playing a role of the altar wings, the representations of liturgical importance from the presbyterian sphere to the inside of the naves, obscuring its functional and substantive divisions; this has an exceptionally strong influence on the increase of sacrality and spirituality in the part of the church intended for believers.