ALL WORKS BY MAGDALENA ABAKANOWICZ ARE © FUNDACJA MARTY MAGDALENY ABAKANOWICZ KOSMOWSKIEJ I JANA KOSMOWSKIEGO, WARSAW
■ THE TATE MODERN GALLERY has taken some of its most impressive textile art out of their cupboards for the exhibition Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle Of Thread And Rope. It’s even more impressive when you realise the bulk of the work in this big exhibition covers just a few years of Abakanowicz’s practice, from 1967 to 1971. Magdalena Abakanowicz (1930-2017) disliked the use of the words ‘fibre art’ to describe her work. Yet those words describe so well her series of monumental fibre pieces known as Abakans, 26 of which are at the heart of this show. Horsehair, sisal, hemp and rope are woven together into heavy organic shapes and hung throughout the gallery. Their dark, slumberous colours are shown off to advantage by the brown walls the Tate have chosen to hang them against. The curators of the exhibition –Ann Coxon and Mary Jane Jacob – fought for the free flow of visitors among the work, as Abakanowicz was passionate about her work being seen and experienced as living works of art. So, in Every Tangle