Yellow Abakan

Abakanowicz's massive fiber works fuse weaving with sculpture and installation to create objects with a disquieting and visceral presence. Yellow Abakan's form is determined by the drape of the textile, which is coarsely woven from sisal, an industrial plant fiber used to make rope. The scarred seams and anatomical appendages lend the work a figural quality, something Abakanowicz continues to explore in large-scale sculptures cast in hardened fiber. Yellow Abakan was among works by several Polish weavers included in Wall Hangings, a 1969 MoMA exhibition showcasing the work of international contemporary fiber artists. Abakanowicz and many artists of the Eastern Bloc were drawn to craft and textile traditions as expressive mediums less regulated by Soviet censorship.

Abakanowicz's massive fiber works fuse weaving with sculpture and installation. While the abstract form of Yellow Abakan is determined by the drape of the coarsely woven sisal, an industrial plant fiber used to make rope, the scarred seams and anatomical appendages lend the work a disquieting figural presence. Abakanowicz and many artists of the Eastern Bloc were drawn to craft and textile traditions because they were expressive mediums less regulated by Soviet censorship.

Credit: Gift of Mr. Walter Bareiss, Mrs. Watson K. Blair, Mr. Arthur Cohen, Mr. Don Page, and Anonymous Donor