Magdalena Abakanowicz

Magdalena Abakanowicz (*1930) is one of the most outstanding personalities of European fine art of the 20th century; her sculptural work have acquired the same importance as the work of Louise Bourgeois, Eva Hesse and Rachel Whiteread. Western art has been enriched by her introduction of the use of monumental headless figures which express the feelings of humanity in the 20th century.  Another unique element of her work are her large textile sculptures called Abakans which she developed from early on, working on them throughout the 1960s. These individual works were followed by a series of humanoid textile sculptures in the 1970s and 1980s which referred to issues of the individual and identity in a crowd. Eventually Abakanowicz switched from working in textile over to metal and in her work she continues to reflect on issues of the individual and the crowd. Some of her sculptures have been created for public spaces. The exhibition in the Museum of Art in Olomouc and this small monograph are reintroducing Magdalena Abakanowicz to the Czech Republic again after a long hiatus. The book is published in a bilingual Czech and English edition, it contains a list of exhibitions, biographical and bibliographical data.