Hurma, by Magdalena Abakanowicz (1994-95)

Materials: burlap and resin

Group of 250 figures (children and adults in real size)

"I wanted to tell you that art is the most harmless activity of mankind. But I suddenly recalled that art was often used for propaganda purposes by totalitarian systems. I wanted to tell you also about the extraordinary sensitivity of an artist, but I recalled that Hitler was a painter and Stalin used to write sonnets."

Magdalena Abakanowicz

A group of figures, which seem to be men and children, are distributed in two rows, grouped in a circular way. These figures are not complete, they represent upright body fragments, with no heads nor hands. All of them are covered with burlap. This is Hurma, a monumental work by Polish sculptor Magdalena Abakanowicz (1930-2017), exhibited in one of the ground floor rooms of the Margulis Collection in Miami, USA.

Hurma, by Magdalena Abakanowicz (1994-95) - Detail

Materials: burlap and resin

Group of 250 figures (children and adults in real size)

"Art will remain the most astonishing activity of mankind born out of struggle between wisdom and madness, between dream and reality in our mind. Each scientific discovery opens doors behind which we are confronted with new closed doors. Art does not solve problems but makes us aware of our existence. Art prepares our eyes to see and our brain to imagine."

Magdalena Abakanowicz

The installation makes us to think of a tragic situation, of a place where the war annihilated the beings that inhabited it. However, the room, which is illuminated excessively, vibrates with energy and we remember that they are only human torsos. As terrifying as they may be, the stage effect is overwhelmingly powerful.

Hurma, by Magdalena Abakanowicz (1994-95) - Detail

Materials: burlap and resin

Group of 250 figures (children and adults in real size)

Magdalena Abakanowicz

It is not surprising that the appearance of the sculptures covered in burlap refers us to the war. The artist lived under the totalitarian regime of the Soviet Union, therefore Hurma, in this repetition of mutilated and multiplied figures, talks about the human condition, anonymity and the reality of an oppressive political regime. 

Hurma, by Magdalena Abakanowicz (1994-95) - Detail

Materials: burlap and resin

Group of 250 figures (children and adults in real size)