PrintMagdalena Abakanowicz as part of Liverpool Biennial
Embryology, 1978 - 81, burlap, cotton, gauze, hemp, nylon and sisal. Chicago, 1982.
Embryology, 1978 - 81, burlap, cotton, gauze, hemp, nylon and sisal. Chicago, 1982.
18 September - 28 November
Tate Liverpool
Albert Dock,
Liverpool L3 4 BB
FREE
Polish Sculptor Magdalena Abakanowicz announced as part of Touched, Liverpool Biennial 2010 International Exhibition
Liverpool Biennial is the largest and one of the most exciting contemporary visual arts events in the UK, and, with 975,000 visits in 2008, one of the best attended in the world.
Touched celebrates a decade of bringing new art to the UK through curatorial collaboration for the International show. It will involve more artists than ever before, while continuing to place an emphasis on commissioning ambitious new work from leading and emerging artists based outside the UK.
Magdalena Abakanowicz is one of the most revered Polish sculptors living today and has been chosen to show at Tate Liverpool as part of Touched, Liverpool Biennial’s international exhibition,
Since the early-1960s Magdalena Abakanowicz’s practice has been primarily concerned with organic form and the use of textiles as a sculptural medium. A recurring element throughout her work is the human body which provides a source of creative and imaginative inspiration. Abakanowicz has deployed a range of sculptural processes in her work, from taking casts of bodily forms in the Backs series (1976–1980) to weaving soft objects using threads pulled from discarded ropes in the Abakans, a celebrated cycle of large-scale three-dimensional textile works. Among her most famous and striking works is Embryology (1978–80), which has recently been acquired by the Tate Collection. This sculptural installation comprises hundreds of hand-sewn objects of varying sizes that are loosely stacked and scattered around the gallery to create an environment that evokes the natural landscape. Abakanowicz’s installation confronts us with an ambigious and disturbing place between bodies and amorphous organic matter, while the title and form of the work suggest cocooned life-forms about to emerge and flourish. The textile sack-like skin and spilled interior stuffing also suggest ideas of trade and storage, particularly in the context of Tate Liverpool which is housed in a converted warehouse.
First presented at the Venice Biennale in 1980, Embryology is now being shown for the first time in the UK. It offers a succinct correspondence with the theme of this year’s international exhibition at Liverpool Biennial, and constitutes the opening element of Touched at Tate Liverpool. Abakanowicz’s practice continues to resonate with younger generations of artists and the inclusion of Embryology within the Biennial provides an historical backdrop against which to view and experience the exhibition’s newly commissioned works.
Premiering the display of the work as part of Touched also positions the Tate Collection and its remit to acquire works of art from across the globe in relation to the theme of ‘touched’.
Touched will consist of art that succeeds in affecting the viewer: art that is close enough to us to move us in mind, body and soul. And with over half the commissions situated in disused shops and warehouses, a feature of Liverpool Biennial since its inception in 1999, the viewer will be touched by art in the most unexpected places!
The curatorial team for Touched is Lorenzo Fusi, Liverpool Biennial (non-gallery sites), Peter Gorschlüter (Tate Liverpool), Patrick Henry (Open Eye Gallery), Sara-Jayne Parsons (the Bluecoat), Mike Stubbs (FACT – Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) and Mark Waugh (A Foundation Liverpool).
The exhibition is supported by the Polish Cultural Institute in London and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in Warsaw.
For more information about the Liverpool Biennial visit www.biennial.com