Bird II

The sculpture Bird II was created in the final period of Magdalena Abakanowicz’s career. After 2000, the artist – known for her monumental depictions of human figures, heads, and embryos – turned increasingly toward forms inspired by the animal world. The first birds appeared in her art at the end of the 1990s, made of openwork wire matter, which was soon replaced by more durable aluminium resistant to weather conditions. These sculptures, with outstretched wings mounted on tall, slender pedestals, were first exhibited in 2001 in the exhibition Birds – Messages of Good and Evil in Milwaukee (USA), and later among others in Wrocław, in front of the National Museum, the Ethnographic Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Although Abakanowicz explained that she was above all interested in the human being and the human condition, the move away from anthropomorphic forms toward animal ones proves only apparent. The birds become metaphorical equivalents of human figures – equally unsettling, fragmentary, and distant from realistic representation. The artist maintained the equality of both worlds, emphasizing their shared sources and analogies.

The presented Bird II radiates both strength and melancholy. On the one hand, its outstretched wings suggest readiness for flight; on the other, its immobilization on a pedestal deprives the sculpture of the possibility of taking off. In this way, the work creates tension between the desire for freedom and the experience of captivity. Unlike earlier works placed directly on the ground, the sculpture set on a raised base separates itself from the viewer – we no longer coexist with it, becoming mere observers. Abakanowicz’s birds contain ambiguity: they are neither an affirmation of nature nor its simple metaphor. Rather, they are projections of the human condition – loneliness, helplessness, and the need to transcend limitations.