FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 9, 2014
Media Contacts:
Amy Mannarino, 202-783-7373
[email protected]
Stacy Meteer, 202-783-7377
[email protected]
Artist Magdalena Abakanowicz Selected for Third Installation
of New York Avenue Sculpture Project
WASHINGTON—Internationally renowned artist Magdalena Abakanowicz (b. 1930) has been selected
as the third artist for the New York Avenue Sculpture Project, the only public art space featuring
changing installations of contemporary works by women artists in
Washington, D.C. Organized by the National Museum of Women
in the Arts (NMWA), the New York Avenue Sculpture Project is a
collaboration between the museum, the Downtown DC Business
Improvement District (BID), the DC Office of Planning and other
local agencies. The Sculpture Project illustrates the museum’s
long-term commitment to the artistic beautification of New York
Avenue, fostering a vibrant new identity for the neighborhood just
east of the White House. The installation will be on view from Sept. 27, 2014 through Sept. 27, 2015.
The Sculpture Project will include a range of figurative works by Polish artist Abakanowicz. Her
monumentally-scaled sculptures of grouped human figures and birds in flight exemplify issues universal
to humankind: the power of nature, the force of destruction and the resiliency of hope. Abakanowicz’s art
is often inspired by her experiences and observations during World War II and its repressive postwar
climate.
“This installation will honor one of the greatest monumental sculptors of our time. Her works’
placement within the capital city of our republic will be compelling,” said NMWA Director Susan Fisher
Sterling. “Abakanowicz’s sculptures of figures atop wheel axles extend from her childhood memory of
traveling with coins sewn into her clothing while escaping advancing military troops. When viewed in the
context of New York Avenue, with drivers and pedestrians moving by, these sculptures will allude more
generally to human journeys, both actual and metaphysical.”
Abakanowicz’s best-known outdoor projects include installations in
Hiroshima, Jerusalem, Seoul and Chicago. She remains the only woman artist
to have sculptures featured in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual
exhibition “On the Roof,” a series begun 15 years ago. Located in the median
of New York Avenue between 12th and 13th Streets, NW, Abakanowicz’s
works in the Sculpture Project will be dedicated at a Community Day on
Tuesday, September 30, 2014.
Representatives from NMWA, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, the
National Capital Planning Commission, the DC Commission on the Arts and
Humanities, the DowntownDC Business Improvement District, the District
Department of Transportation, the DC Office of Planning, the Advisory
Neighborhood Commission, local museums with outdoor sculpture programs
and public art experts make up the advisory board that selected the winning artist.
This Sculpture Project installation is typical of Abakanowicz’s work, in which she often
reproduces a motif such as figures, birds or tree trunks in numerous sculptures grouped together. The
installation features five artworks comprising 14 individual sculptures. Although each bronze figure and
stainless steel bird appears similar to others, every sculpture features distinctive proportions and irregular
surface textures, reflecting Abakanowicz’s interest in earthy materials that give her sculptures raw power.
The content of Abakanowicz’s art is often sourced in personal experiences. She suffered
deprivation and witnessed violence during World War II. After the war, she endured political oppression
in Poland. Yet Abakanowicz describes her art as “fully metaphorical” and representative of forces that
shape all human lives. She has been drawn to nature since childhood, when she spent time in the
landscape surrounding her home. Her sculptures of birds in flight express her affinity for nature’s
rhythms. Walking Figures (2009) echoes the artist’s experience in postwar Poland, where citizens
endured long queues for scarce goods. These sculptures allude to inner strength by depicting each figure
striding forward. The figures in the group are sculpted without heads, appearing neither male nor female,
but evocative of all humankind.
NMWA’s partner organizations have provided integral support for the project’s ongoing success.
“The sculptures along New York Avenue have become a must-see public art installation in the
DowntownDC BID area,” said Richard H. Bradley, executive director of the DowntownDC Business
Improvement District. “We are thrilled to be a part of the New York Avenue Sculpture Project and herald
its ability to be at the forefront of placemaking projects and programs in the Downtown.”
The BID is one of the museum’s public-private partners on the sculpture project. It managed the
preliminary design and engineering, shepherded the project through the approval processes of seven
agencies, and took the lead in managing the construction project, including lighting, landscaping and
signage. The Downtown BID Safety/Hospitality and Maintenance employees (SAMs) will again help
maintain the landscaping once plantings are installed around Abakanowicz’s art.
The New York Avenue Sculpture Project: Magdalena Abakanowicz is made possible by the DC
Commission on the Arts and Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the
Arts, and the Homer and Martha Gudelsky Foundation.
About the Artist
Magdalena Abakanowicz’s work has been featured in more than 150 solo exhibitions in Europe, North and South America, Asia
and Australia. Most recently, her art has been presented in the Palacio de Cristal, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía,
Madrid; Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno, Valencia; Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro, Milan; Tate Modern, London; and
Akbank Art Center, Istanbul. Abakanowicz has developed a number of site-specific sculpture installations that incorporate
multiple figures rendered at an outsized scale. Among these are installations at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem; Olympic Park,
Seoul, South Korea; Europos Parkas, Lithuania; and a sculptural group comprising 106 cast-iron figures in Chicago’s Grant Park.
Abakanowicz studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Warsaw, Poland, where she lives and works today. She served as
professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, Poznan, Poland (1965–90), and visiting professor at the University of California, Los
Angeles in 1984. Among numerous awards and distinctions, Abakanowicz has received seven honorary doctorates from
universities in Europe and the United States as well as the Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from France. She was
also awarded the International Sculpture Center’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.
National Museum of Women in the Arts
Founded in 1981 and opened in 1987, NMWA is the only museum solely dedicated to celebrating the achievements of women in
the visual, performing and literary arts. The museum’s collection features 4,500 works from the 16th century to the present
created by more than 1,000 artists, including Mary Cassatt, Frida Kahlo, Alma Thomas, Lee Krasner, Louise Bourgeois, Chakaia
Booker and Nan Goldin, along with special collections of 18th-century silver tableware and botanical prints. NMWA is located
at 1250 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C., in a landmark building near the White House. It is open Monday–Saturday,
10 a.m.–5 p.m. and Sunday, noon–5 p.m. For information, call 202-783-5000 or visit nmwa.org. Admission is $10 for adults, $8
for visitors 65 and over and students, and free for NMWA members and youths 18 and under. Free Community Days take place
on the first Sunday of each month. For more information about NMWA, visit nmwa.org, Broad Strokes Blog, Facebook or
Twitter.
The DowntownDC Business Improvement District
The DowntownDC Business Improvement District is a private nonprofit organization that provides capital improvements,
resources and research to help diversify the economy and enhance the Downtown experience for all. This special district, where
property owners have agreed to tax themselves to fund services, encompasses a 138-block area of approximately 825 properties
from Massachusetts Avenue on the north to Constitution Avenue on the south, and from Louisiana Avenue on the east to 16th
Street on the west. As a catalyst, facilitator and thought leader, the DowntownDC BID promotes public/private partnerships to
create a remarkable urban environment. For more information, visit www.DowntownDC.org or follow on Twitter
@downtowndcbid.
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Image Credit Lines:
Magdalena Abakanowicz, Walking Figures (group of 10), 2009; Bronze, each approximately 106 ¼ x 35 ⅜ x 55 ⅛ in.; All
images © Magdalena Abakanowicz, Courtesy of Marlborough Gallery, New York
Magdalena Abakanowicz, Stainless Bird on Pole II, 2009; Stainless steel, 144 ⅛ x 106 ¼ x 57 ⅛ in.; All images © Magdalena
Abakanowicz, Courtesy of Marlborough Gallery, New York