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From left, Grosse Pointe Farms artists Max Rybinski and his mom, Jackie Rybinski, flank a portrait she painted of her son and her son’s metal sculpture of “The Simpsons.” These are among the works that are part of an exhibition by the Rybinskis called “Heat & Light.”
Photo by K. Michelle Moran
GROSSE POINTE FARMS — Those who follow the metro Detroit art scene are probably familiar with painter Jackie Rybinski, of Grosse Pointe Farms, whose work has been featured in shows organized by the Grosse Pointe Artists Association, Detroit Society of Women Painters and Sculptors and Detroit Artists Market, to name a few.
She’s not the only artist in her family, though. Her son, Max Rybinski, also of Grosse Pointe Farms, crafts sculptural creatures out of metal. Mother and son are enjoying their first solo/duo show, “Heat & Light: Jackie & Max Rybinski,” at Grosse Pointe Congregational Church in Grosse Pointe Farms, in the church’s art gallery. The show opened April 7 and will be on display until May 14.
“We called the show ‘Heat & Light’ because he uses heat when welding his sculptures, and a painter uses light,” Jackie Rybinski said.
For the church, this exhibition is significant.
“This is the first official Arts Ministry (show) since March 2020,” said Lori Zurvalec, of Grosse Pointe City, chair of the Grosse Pointe Congregational Church Arts Ministry Committee. “So, this is a very important exhibit. I’m just so excited.”
Jackie and Max Rybinski were supposed to have this show in September 2020, Zurvalec said, but the COVID-19 pandemic kept that from happening. Then, in June 2021, the church’s basement — where the gallery is located — was destroyed when widespread flooding and sewage backups ravaged thousands of homes and businesses in the Grosse Pointes.
Jackie Rybinski’s work in the show includes portraits, industrial scenes, Detroit streetscapes and scenes of Detroit from the view through her car window. She had a mini solo show at Detroit Artists Market on its Featured Artists wall. Until recently, Jackie Rybinski was a regular volunteer with the GPAA’s A Morning Out art and conversation project for seniors at The War Memorial.
Although she has a fine arts degree with a specialization in ceramics, Jackie Rybinski turned her attention to painting about 20 years ago, first working in watercolor and then oil.
In her most recent work, “I’m trying to get away from actual representation and get into more … of an expressionist feel,” Jackie Rybinski said.
Max Rybinski’s work consists of large and smaller sculptures of animals, mythical creatures and characters from movies and television, among others. His work can be displayed outdoors — many of his customers have used his works to decorate their yards and gardens — and it will develop a patina of rust unless it’s painted or given a protective coating first.
“What he uses is just scrap metal, sheet metal, washers — whatever goes well with the creature,” Jackie Rybinski said.
Max Rybinski’s work has an industrial feel that’s fitting, given his metro Detroit roots.
A 2013 Grosse Pointe South High School graduate, Max Rybinski, 28, has been making sculptures since he learned welding at Golightly Career Technical Center in Detroit, which he attended while in high school. His welding instructor, Juan Whiting, was the one who realized that Max Rybinski had a natural creative gift.
“His teacher said Max is a real artist,” Jackie Rybinski said. “And so we encouraged him.”
That support included converting the family garage into a welding studio, complete with a fan and fireproofing.
Max Rybinski said his paternal grandfather and great-grandfather — both metalworkers — inspired him to learn welding, a trade he practices at work as well as in his off hours as an artist.
His mom said her younger son is “generous with his time.” When he was laid off for a period last year when the company he worked for closed, Max Rybinski volunteered for The Parade Company — which produces floats and organizes the Detroit Thanksgiving Day Parade — where he made wheeled bases for the floats, earning The Parade Company’s Volunteer of the Year award.
He’s happy to see the joy his work has brought to others. He said he made a unicorn for his barber’s daughter, who loved the sculpture so much that she redecorated her room for it and allowed her dad to sell her other toys. When a co-worker lost his pet tarantula, he asked Max Rybinski to sculpt one for his friend.
“With the help of the sculpture I made, he felt much better,” Max Rybinski said.
“That’s the power of art to change people’s lives,” Zurvalec commented.
Jackie Rybinski’s older son, Leo, joined Grosse Pointe Symphony Orchestra musicians Nensi Bakiu and her mother, Anida Margariti, to play chamber music for an opening reception for “Heat & Light” April 16.
Grosse Pointe Congregational Church is located at 240 Chalfonte Ave. in Grosse Pointe Farms. The gallery is open to the public Sunday afternoons and whenever there’s an activity at the church. Call the church at (313) 884-3075 for more information or to see when the gallery is open.
