Agora is an installation of 106 headless cast-iron figures arranged in interesting groupings. Most of the figures are in monumental crowds, while several appear to be pulling away from the larger group. Agora is a Greek word, meaning: urban meeting place.

Installed: 2006
Sculptor: Magdalena Abakanowicz
Location: Grant Park, Chicago, IL

Agora by Paul Sager, on Flickr


Some figures are frozen in positions that suggest great movement, while others appear to be standing completely still.

Agora


Valued at more than $3 million, the 2006 installation is the work of internationally-acclaimed sculptor Magdalena Abakanowicz.

The Grant Park Conservancy is a 501c(3) not-for-profit with a mission to provide a permanent body that enables Chicago's Grant Park to respond and adapt to the changing needs of its users, as the park passes from generation to generation. Some of these needs relate to landscaping, infrastructure, design, cultural activities and public art.

Agora


The figures are 9 ft tall and weigh approximately 1,800 lb. Each is made from a hollow, seamless piece of weathered iron, giving the pieces a reddish appearance and rough bark-like texture.

Agora


Abakanowicz donated her time as did a group of dedicated Polish artists who helped her construct the pieces in Poznan, Poland.

Agora


Chicago, which has a large Polish American community, worked to obtain a major work by Abakanowicz for several years before Agora arrived. By 2006, private donors, including actor Robin Williams, contributed over $700,000 to bring the work to Chicago.

Agora


The name Agora refers to the urban meeting places of the Ancient Greek city-states. Born just outside of Warsaw, Magdalena Abakanowicz (b. 1930) was deeply affected by World War II and the forty-five years of Soviet domination that followed. Abakanowicz said that her art draws on her fear of crowds, which she once described as "brainless organisms acting on command, worshiping on command and hating on command". However, the work has inspired optimistic interpretations. Kevin Nance of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "If they had arms and hands (they don't), these would be clasped behind their backs as if in contemplation. They seem, somehow, to be thinking, not as a group but as individuals. It's possible, in fact, to interpret the piece as a representation of democracy."

Agora


Images shared in this post were captured using Kodak Gold 200 film and a digital Sony a7II, on different days in late October and early November 2020. All editing was performed in Adobe Lightroom v6.

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