FOR 12-29

MAGDALENA ABAKANOWICZ SCULPTURE ON VIEW AT CHICAGO’S GRANT PARK

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CHICAGO, ILL. — The directors of Marlborough Gallery announce that the renowned Polish sculptor Magdalena Abakanowicz and the Polish Ministry of Culture have given a new monumental sculpture by the artist to the city. The work, “Agora,” is composed of 106 cast iron figures and has been permanently installed at Grant Park at the northeast corner along Michigan Avenue and Roosevelt Road.

Each sculpture measures over 9 feet tall and weighs more than 1,500 pounds. The tonal richness of the iron’s brown-orange color and the highly organic quality of the sculptures’ surface mark a provocative contrast with the sleek verticality of the buildings’ architecture surrounding the park.

In ancient Greece an agora was a place in town where people met and mingled to share thoughts and to discuss ideas about philosophy, poetry, politics, etc. In Grant Park the sculptures, whose stance has a position of walking, are posed to move in different directions and together act as a metaphor for the gathering of ideas, or public forum, which engage concerns on various thoughts including those about sculpture and how it is used as an expressive means for nature, humanity, and art in the modern city.

Working on a scale of one-to-one in her studio, she and her assistants worked on “Agora” for about three years in a Polish foundry that specializes in iron casting. Among the virtues of cast iron is that it does not rust, maintains its surface color and resists all changes of temperature and humidity. Each figure is handmade and worked on as a single personality.

For further information about the artist visit www.abakanowicz.art.pl; to reach the gallery call 212-541-4900.