Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz created the series of seven Sagacious Heads from 1987 to 1990. Numbers 6 and 7 are in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.]]>

Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz created the series of seven Sagacious Heads from 1987 to 1990. Numbers 6 and 7 are in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Here’s a little insight from the sculpture garden web site:

For Abakanowicz, known for her haunting groupings of abstracted figures, the head has a special significance: it is “first to see, to react, to inform the whole body,” but more importantly, it is “first exposed to the unknown.” These featureless heads–silent and mute–have been severed from their bodies and thus from all their responsibilities. Their immutable, enigmatic presence seems to call forth the unknown itself.

Uh, yeah. Sure.

They always seemed like strangely alien bronze forms to me, more like rocks than heads. Especially when you walk around the back and see what I can only describe as a giant seam. The odd shaping of the back makes the sculpture lose its rock-like feel and just seem fabricated. The work might be a little more interesting if all seven works were together.