2024-04-16
Presented in the historic 18th-century rooms of the Royal Library within the Royal Castle in Warsaw, the exhibition entitled Abakanowicz. Confrontations is now on view until February 19th, 2023. We encourage you to visit the show and reflect on the "confrontations” between the contemporary oeuvre of Abakanowicz and the historic interiors.
The Royal Library building, completed in 1784, had its interior designed by the great Italian architect Dominic Merlini. Interestingly, this part of the place is the only fully surviving authentic room of the Royal Castle that has not been damaged during the war. In the classical interiors, the viewer sees Abakanowicz's sculptures adorned only by single spotlights, making them appear almost theatrical. He or she has the opportunity to walk past them, to blend in with Crowd III or Backs.
Various events and varied educational programs accompany the exhibition. Workshops, meetings, and lessons are aimed at children, adults, schools, and teachers. A video promoting the exhibition with the participation of the writer Łukasz Orbitowski is accessible to view online.
Magdalena Abakanowicz was a Polish sculptor and textile artist, internationally renowned for her monumental, spatial tapestries in relief (Abakany). She received her higher artistic education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sopot. As early as 1962, the artist achieved her first major success at the Lausanne Biennale of Artistic Textiles, and in 1965 at the São Paulo Biennale. She also participated in the Wall Hangings exhibition of the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1969, together with five other artists from Poland. In 1979, she became a professor at the State Higher School of Fine Arts in Poznań. She died in 2017 in Warsaw, after a long and difficult illness. Since 2020, she has been named the patron of the University of Arts in Poznań. On 17 November 2022, Abakanowicz's first exhibition opened at the prestigious Tate Modern in London. This exhibition, undoubtedly, is evidence of the artist's ever-growing position on the international art market.