invited by Jackie Brown
Magdalena Abakanowicz
In the early nineties I saw Abakonawicz’s War Games
at the DIA Centre in New York. I knew of her earlier
work, her abakans, made from dyed sisal fabric, which
I loved, but War Games had a profound effect on
me. Monumental tree trunks, displaced by the Nazis
when they invaded Poland, just as Abakonawicz and
her family had been, are displayed as witnesses to
horrific destruction and steel spikes/points at their
tip turn them into a threatening, menacing presence.
Abakonawicz has lived through years of war and the
resulting succession of political, social, economic
and spiritual upheavals. Her work has always been
concerned with the human condition, in particular
the loss and hardships during times of strife.
South London Women Artists I’m Inside, Ring The Bell
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