Magdalena Abakanowicz. Human Nature

Magdalena Abakanowicz (1930–2017) is known for her iconic installations that explored the relationship between humanity and nature, as well as the strength of the collective versus the individual. Today the power of her art, like predications from the past, are rivetingly real. This publication offers rich intellectual insight into the relevance of this Polish artist to the threatened present—a time in which geopolitical shifts between East and West and predictions of the Club of Rome (1972) and climate scientists are becoming a worldwide reality. And here Abakanowicz’s vision on nature and the human condition is explored in a uniquely inspired way: by engaging seven artists/collaboratives to reflect in deeply personal ways on their art through dialogues with historians, philosophers, and other thinkers. This “counterpoint" launches discussion around the human condition in a post-humanist time, collective identity, trauma, climate change, unending destruction of the planet, and more. Finally, the uncommon approach of this show and book demonstrates how the elder artist’s art and life is a lens through which not only these artists but we can reconsider our place in the world.