Magdalena Abakanowicz (born 1930) - sculptor, professor at the College of Fine Arts in Poznań, lecturer at the University of California. She has some 100 one-woman exhibitions to her name. Her career started with 'Abakans', three-dimensional tapestries with unusual textures, for which she won an award at the 1965 Biennial in Sao Paulo. Her work is displayed in many museums, including the Ludwig Museum in Cologne and the National Museum in Madrid, as well as in private collections. She also creates free-standing sculptures for open spaces, for example 'Dragon's space' in the Olympic Park in Seoul. She has received many awards, including the Grand Culture Foundation Prize in 2001, and Visionaries l, American Craft Museum from New York in 2000. She was also honoured with many honoris causa doctorates, e.g. from the Royal College of Art in London in 1974.
