Work Louise Bourgeois




1 work

1.1 femme maison
1.2 destruction of father
1.3 exorcism in art
1.4 cells
1.5 maman
1.6 maisons fragiles / empty houses
1.7 printmaking
1.8 pervasive themes
1.9 collaboration

1.9.1 not abandon me







work

femme maison

femme maison (1946–47) series of paintings in bourgeois explores relationship of woman , home. in works, women s heads have been replaced houses, isolating bodies outside world , keeping minds domestic. theme goes along dehumanization of modern art.


destruction of father

destruction of father (1974) biographical , psychological exploration of power dominance of father , offspring. piece flesh-toned installation in soft , womb-like room. made of plaster, latex, wood, fabric, , red light, destruction of father first piece in used soft materials on large scale. upon entering installation, viewer stands in aftermath of crime. set in stylized dining room (with dual impact of bedroom), abstract blob-like children of overbearing father have rebelled, murdered, , eaten him.



…telling captive audience how great is, wonderful things did, bad people put down today. goes on day after day. there tragedy in air. once has said piece. unbearably dominating although not realize himself. kind of resentment grows , 1 day brother , decided, time has come! grabbed him, laid him on table , our knives dissected him. took him apart , dismembered him, cut off penis. , became food. ate him up… liquidated same way liquidated children.



exorcism in art

in 1982, museum of modern art in new york city featured unknown artist, louise bourgeois s work. 70 years old , mixed media artist worked on paper, metal, marble , animal skeletal bones. childhood family traumas bred exorcism in art , desperately attempted purge unrest work. felt in touch issues of female identity, body, fractured family, long before art world , society considered them expressed subjects in art. bourgeous s way find center , stabilize emotional unrest. new york times said @ time work charged tenderness , violence, acceptance , defiance, ambivalence , conviction.


cells

while in eighties, bourgeois produced 2 series of enclosed installation works referred cells. many small enclosures viewer prompted peer inward @ arrangements of symbolic objects; others small rooms viewer invited enter. in cell pieces, bourgeois uses earlier sculptural forms, found objects personal items carried strong personal emotional charge artist.


the cells enclose psychological , intellectual states, feelings of fear , pain. bourgeois stated cells represent “different types of pain; physical, emotional , psychological, mental , intellectual… each cell deals fear. fear pain… each cell deals pleasure of voyeur, thrill of looking , being looked at.”


maman


bourgeois s maman sculpture @ guggenheim museum in bilbao


in late 1990s, bourgeois began using spider central image in art. maman, stands more 9 metres high, steel , marble sculpture edition of 6 bronzes subsequently cast. first made appearance part of bourgeois’s commission unilever series tate modern’s turbine hall in 2000, , recently, sculpture installed @ qatar national convention centre in doha, qatar. largest spider sculpture titled maman stands @ on 30 feet (9.1 m) , has been installed in numerous locations around world. largest spider sculpture ever made bourgeois. moreover, maman alludes strength of mother, metaphors of spinning, weaving, nurture , protection. prevalence of spider motif in work has given rise nickname spiderwoman.



the spider ode mother. best friend. spider, mother weaver. family in business of tapestry restoration, , mother in charge of workshop. spiders, mother clever. spiders friendly presences eat mosquitoes. know mosquitoes spread diseases , therefore unwanted. so, spiders helpful , protective, mother.




maisons fragiles / empty houses

bourgeois’s maisons fragiles / empty houses sculptures parallel, high metallic structures supporting simple tray. 1 must see them in person feel impact. not threatening or protecting, bring out depths of anxiety within you. bachelard’s findings psychologists’ tests show anxious child draw tall narrow house no base. bourgeois had rocky/traumatic childhood , support reason behind why these pieces constructed.


printmaking

bourgeois’s printmaking flourished during , late phases of career: in 1930s , 1940s, when first came new york paris, , again starting in 1980s, when work began receive wide recognition. on, made prints @ home on small press, or @ renowned workshop atelier 17. period followed long hiatus, bourgeois turned attention sculpture. not until in seventies began make prints again, encouraged first print publishers. set old press, , added second, while working closely printers came house collaborate. active phase of printmaking followed, lasting until artist’s death. on course of life, bourgeois created approximately 1,500 printed compositions.


in 1990, bourgeois decided donate complete archive of printed work museum of modern art. in 2013, museum launched online catalogue raisonnĂ©, louise bourgeois: complete prints & books. site focuses on artist’s creative process , places bourgeois’s prints , illustrated books within context of overall production including related works in other mediums deal same themes , imagery.


pervasive themes

one theme of bourgeois s work of childhood trauma , hidden emotion. after louise s mother became sick influenza louise s father began having affairs other women, notably sadie, louise s english tutor. louise extremely watchful , aware of situation. beginning of artist s engagement double standards related gender , sexuality, expressed in of work. recalls father saying love repeatedly mother, despite infidelity. wolf, , rational hare, forgiving , accepting him was. 1993 work cell: better grow , part of cell series, speaks directly louise s childhood trauma , insecurity surrounded her. 2002 s give or take defined hidden emotion, representing intense dilemma people face throughout lives attempt balance actions of giving , taking. dilemma not represented shape of sculpture, heaviness of material piece made of.


architecture , memory important components of bourgeois s work. in numerous interviews, louise describes architecture visual expression of memory, or memory type of architecture. memory featured in of work invented memory - death or exorcism of father. imagined memory interwoven real memories including living across slaughterhouse , father s affair. louise father represented injury , war, aggrandizement of himself , belittlement of others , importantly man represented betrayal. 1993 work cell (three white marble spheres) speaks fear , captivity. mirrors within present altered , distorted reality.


sexuality undoubtedly 1 of important themes in work of louise bourgeois. link between sexuality , fragility or insecurity powerful. has been argued stems childhood memories , father s affairs. 1952 s spiral woman combines louise s focus on female sexuality , torture. flexing leg , arm muscles indicate spiral woman still above though being suffocated , hung. 1995 s in , out uses cold metal materials link sexuality anger , perhaps captivity.


the spiral in work demonstrates dangerous search precarious equilibrium, accident-free permanent change, disarray, vertigo, whirlwind. there lies simultaneously positive , negative, both future , past, breakup , return, hope , vanity, plan , memory.


louise bourgeois’s work powered confessions, self-portraits, memories, fantasies of restless being seeking through sculpture peace , order missing throughout childhood.


collaboration
do not abandon me

this collaboration took place on span of 2 years british artist tracey emin. work exhibited in london months after bourgeois’s death in 2010. subject matter consists of male , female images. although appear sexual, portrays tiny female figure paying homage giant male figure, god. louise bourgeois did water colors , tracey emin did drawing on top. took emin 2 years decide how figure out contribute in collaboration. when knew do, finished of drawings in day , believes every single 1 worked out perfectly. “i lost you” losing children, losing life. bourgeois had bury son parent. abandonment not losing mother son well. despite age gap between 2 artists , differences in work, collaboration worked out gently , easily.








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