A MULTI-CARD ARTIST

 

Between giant metal sculptures, concrete bas-reliefs, oil paintings, and watercolors, the Eguzon-based artist has been finding his balance for fifty years.

 

When you enter his haven of peace in Séjalla, a place lost in the Eguzon countryside at the end of a dead-end road, you realize that Daniel Szakonyi enjoys tranquility and discretion. This hushed universe masks an exuberant temperament expressed through monumental sculptures installed in three schools in the department.

The first has stood proudly in the courtyard of the Blaise-Pascal high school in Châteauroux since 1994. This five-meter welded iron work, made of intersecting curves, is imposing, as are those created in 2000 and 2004 for the Rollinat and Châteauneuf high schools in Argenton-sur-Creuse, which are four meters high and weigh five tons.

 

"My greatest source of inspiration remains nature."

 

These are just a few of the many works of this Hungarian-born visual artist, painter, and sculptor, born in 1946 in Chicago, Illinois. After serving in Vietnam, he studied at the Beaux-Arts in Paris, and his encounter with Agnès, the daughter of Dr. Jacques Allain, one of the inventors of the Argentomagus archaeological site, solidified his establishment in the Indre region.

 

His early work resulted in a wide range of creations using wood, bronze, welded iron, concrete, glass, and paint. His small bronzes with modern, rounded forms were highly prized in private and public collections, and his encounter with Alexander Calder in 1974 led him to pursue mobile, lightweight, and colorful sculptures.

 

Installations as far away as the South of France. His career is also marked by more imposing works, such as the six-meter-high stained concrete sculpture for the Esso refinery, which symbolizes the purification of industrial water and the industry's efforts towards ecology at the Fos-sur-Mer site (Bouches-du-Rhône). Daniel Szakonyi also created the bas-relief for the pediment of the Stade des Rives du Cher stadium in Tours in 1978, and that of the library. His fifty years of experience have not hindered his desire to innovate: "I use multiple materials that allow me to broaden my creative scope. My greatest source of inspiration remains nature."

 

The watercolors, oil paintings, and unique porcelain paintings exhibited in his Séjalla studio illustrate his eclectic approach.

 

In July 2024, the Eguzon artist exhibited at the L'Encadrerie gallery in Gargilesse on the theme of Trees and Lights, and he currently works in bronze and polystyrene to continue expanding his skills. And those who manage to reach his home sweet home, surrounded by a sea of greenery, are always welcome.