“Walking Figures” by Magdalena Abakanowicz to be Featured

Tuesday, 13 November 2007

Magdalena Abakanowicz, whose sculpture “Walking Figures” will soon be installed in San Diego, received the International Sculpture Center’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. She also received honorary awards from the Royal College of Arts in London, and the Academy of Fine Arts in Lodz, Poland.

Born in Warsaw in 1930, Abakanowicz endured Nazi occupation and 45 years of Soviet domination. Abakanowicz studied fine art at the University of Warsaw from 1950 to 1955. Her artistic production has included works in paint, fiber arts and clay, but she is most noted for her large-scale, figurative sculptures.

In late 2006, Abakanowicz’s work “Agora” was permanently placed in Chicago’s Grant Park. The installation contains 106 unique iron cast figures frozen in walking movement.

Abakanowicz has created more than 1,000 figurative sculptures, which are often grouped together for visceral impact.

“Walking Figures” was commissioned for the Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale. In “Walking Figures” 18 headless cast iron figures stride toward a place unseen, each with one foot forward. The headless figures derive from the social turmoil Abakanowicz has experienced, and it represents the nature of human beings as they travel in groups. The 18 figures were individually cast in Poland, with unique markings that ensure no two figures are alike.

The work will be installed along Harbor Drive near Petco Park and the Convention Center after Thanksgiving.

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