Louise Bourgeois

Description

One of the century’s most distinguished artists, Louise Bourgeois is an utterly unique figure. Born in Paris in 1911, Bourgeois spent most of her career receiving little recognition from the art community. She has worked closely to many of the century’s key artistic moments, from Surrealism to Abstract Expressionism to feminist art, and yet she remains distinct from all of them. An extraordinarily influential sculptor, she has worked, often experimentally, with materials varying from alabaster, plaster, latex, bronze and marble. Bourgeois is equally admired for her intimate drawings, often combining fragments of text, and her highly personal writings, which often address her long and complex life story. With the backdrop of a conflicted and sexually complicated family upbringing, her struggles as an artist in a world reserved for men, as well as her experiences as a mother, the subject of her work is as broad as the materials in which she expresses them. As a figure of outstanding significance in contemporary art, her stature has been recognized by such awards as the American National Medal of the Arts (1991), the French Grand Prix National de Sculpture (1991) and the Venice Biennale’s Golden Lion Prize (1999), among others.

Critic Paulo Herkenhoff (with Thyra Goodeve) has been in discussion with Bourgeois for many years. Topics in their Interview range from her troubled relationship with her father, to men’s fashions, to her recollections of Marcel Duchamp, whom she knew personally. Critic and curator Robert Storr’s Survey chronicles the unique trajectory of Bourgeois’ work and life from a highly personal point of view. In his Focus, critic Allan Schwartzman concentrates on Cell (You Better Grow Up) (1993), an intense cage-like space. For her Artist’s Choice Bourgeois has selected extracts from the novel Bonjour Tristesse (1954) by Francoise Sagan, whose story about a young girl’s response to her father’s amorous relationships parallels to some degree the artist’s own childhood experiences. The Artist’s Writings include an early text, ‘The Puritan’, from 1947, alongside discussions of her own work, autobiographical writings and artist’s projects.Robert Storr is Rosalie Solow Professor of Modern Art at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Formerly Senior Curator at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 2004 he curated the 5th SITE Sante Fe Biennial in New Mexico. Storr was a contributing author to Phaidon’s Raymond Pettibon (2003), Alex Katz (2006) and Robert Mangold (2000).

Paulo Herkenhoff is an independent curator and critic based in Rio de Janeiro. Formerly adjunct Curator in the Department of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Herkenhoff was Artistic Director of the 24th Bienal de Sao Paulo (1999) and Curator of the Brazilian Pavilion of the 47th Venice Biennale (1997).

Allan Schwartzman is an independent art critic who often contributes to The New York Times as well as many other journals and newspapers. Schwartzman is a longtime follower of Bourgeois’ work.

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On the Contemporary Artists Series

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