Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope

Magdalena Abakanowicz, Abakan Orange, 1971. Tate. All works by Magdalena Abakanowicz are © Fundacja Marty Magdaleny Abakanowicz Kosmowskiej i Jana Kosmowskiego, Warsaw.

London’s Tate Modern hosts a beautiful vision of harmony wrapped in ropes and threads, as Magdalena Abakanowicz’s exhibition provides an overview of her amazing career. Born in Poland in 1930, Abakanowicz (1930-2017) lived through World War II, Communist Poland, and the fall of the Berlin Wall. These events, while significant to world history, are small in comparison to what Abakanowicz’s art invites the viewer to consider: humanity and its harmony with earth.

The Tate Modern exhibition is cleverly designed as it spans Magdalena’s artistic output from the 1950’s to her late designs at the end of the twentieth century. To walk through the exhibition is a journey across her artistic transformation, which begins with grand tapestries, early sketches and experiments with organic forms, and concludes with her famous ‘Abakans’—massive three-dimensional figures.

It was very stimulating to walk through the room of ‘Abakans’ as the exhibition cultivated a narrative of Magdalena’s keen attention to nature and its role in human life. The ‘Abakans’ are large, fibrous forms made of materials such as thread and rope, and are signature to Magdalena. They hang from ceilings, protrude from walls, and come to life in three-dimensional space. Much greater than the size of a person—many of the ‘Abakans’ are approximately five meters tall—together they formed what Abakanowicz termed ‘environments’. For the artist, her woven forms were not individual creations, but rather, parts of a story creating an atmosphere for the viewer. These artworks are not placed randomly, they are in conversation with each, as well as the audience. Walking through the Abakans, feels almost as if walking through a forest—although the Abakans exist silently, their woven, soft forms suggest that they are whispering and breathing in the exhibition space.

Although Magdalena’s work is from the twentieth century, her message resonates strongly with modern times. On top of the environmental questions which guided Magdalena’s artistic praxis over the decades, she has also been referred to as a feminist for her work regarding birth, female livelihood, and the human lifecycle. Although she has never referred to herself as such, this narrative weaves an interesting thread through her focus on environment and nature. Magdalena Abakanowicz’s art is a reminder of how interrelated we are with one another, as well as the ecosystem of our planet. The Tate London exhibition does an excellent job of highlighting Abakanowicz’s worldview, while also underscoring her achievements in different artistic traditions.  

Magdalena Abakanowicz, Embryology, 1978–80. Tate. All works by Magdalena Abakanowicz are © Fundacja Marty Magdaleny Abakanowicz Kosmowskiej i Jana Kosmowskiego, Warsaw.

Jordan Lian is a PhD student at Cambridge University researching ballet history. She trained as a classical dancer, including at Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet Academy. In her free time, she enjoys watching dance performances and global art.