Magdalena Abakanowicz
Every Tangle Of Thread and Rope
Magdalena Abakanowicz, Brown coat, 1968. Photo: Øystein Thorvaldsen / Henie Onstad Kunstsenter
In the 1960s and 1970s, the Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz (1930–2017) created radical sculptures from woven fibre.
The sculptures were soft, ambiguous, organic, towering works that were hung from the ceiling and ground-breaking as they created a new form of installation. The works would eventually become known as Abakans. This exhibition provides a rare opportunity to explore these extraordinary works through several of the most important Abakans. Abakanowicz significantly influenced Norwegian textile artists in the 1960s and 1970s, in part through Henie Onstad’s comprehensive presentation Magdalena Abakanowicz: Organic Structures in 1977.
The exhibition is organised by Tate Modern in collaboration with Henie Onstad and the Fondation Toms Pauli at Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne/Plateforme 10.
The exhibition is curated by Ann Coxon, Mary Jane Jacob, and Caroline Ugelstad.