Walking Figures by M. Abakanowicz, courtesy of the Marlborough Gallery New York
The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and the Directors of Marlborough Gallery have organised an outdoor exhibition of ten headless sculptures by Magdalena Abakanowicz at Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza at Second Avenue and 47th Street in the heart of New York City
The rippled surface of each individual figure is different, giving them an aspect of individuality in spite of their inclusion in a group. The series, originally created by the artist in 2009, fits in with Nobel Prize-winning politician Dag Hammarskjöld’s idea that one should "Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road".
Polish sculptor Magdalena Abakanowicz (born in 1930 in Falenty, outside of Warsaw) is one of the most important names in contemporary art, known for her use of various materials to bring forth a very humane, organic element to her works. Writer Barbara Rose once called Abakanowicz a "shaman who receives and transmits messages in a visual language that is more universal than words". The basic reference of Abakanowicz’s works has been man, his condition and position in modern world, and most of all his confusion by the excess and anonymity in the crowd. This is reflected in her sculptures of the 1980s and 1990s, in which she used new materials, such as metal, wood, stone, and sometimes clay.
Abakanowicz's works have been exhibited in over 150 exhibitions in Europe, North and South America, Japan, South Korea, and Australia, at such prestigious venues as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Jardins du Palais Royal in Paris and the National Museum in Poznań. Among numerous prizes and distinctions, Abakanowicz has received seven honorary doctorates from universities in Europe and the United States as well as the Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from France. She was also awarded the prestigious International Sculpture Center’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. Her site-specific works include Negev at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1987; Space of Dragon, Olympic Park, Seoul, South Korea, 1985; Becalmed Beings, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Japan, 1993; Space of Unknown Growth, Europos Parkas, Lithuania, 1997-98; Unrecognized, Citadel Park, Poznan, Poland, 2002; Space of Stone, Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, New Jersey, 2003 and Agora, a sculptural group comprised of 106 unique cast-iron figures measuring over nine feet tall that was permanently installed in Chicago’s Grant Park in 2006.
The outdoor exhibition in New York has been organised by the Marlborough Gallery in New York in cooperation with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.
For more information, see: www.marlboroughgallery.com
Magdalena Abakanowicz
Walking Figures, 2009
bronze, H: 98 - 103 in., W: 33 - 35 in., D: 35-49 in.
Editor: Agnieszka Le Nart
Source: Marlborough Gallery New York