louise bourgeois at the guggenheim museum, new york

le défi, 1991. painted wood, glass, and electrical  – © louise bourgeois licensed by VAGA, new york, NY

louise bourgeois

the louise bourgeois show currently on show at the guggenheim museum, new york provides a retrospective
of the artists entire career. the exhibition fills the entire frank lloyd wright rotunda and one adjacent gallery,
and is the most comprehensive examination to date of bourgeois’s long and distinguished career.

 
untitled 1986 watercolour, ink, oil, charcoal and pencil on paper – © louise bourgeois photo: christopher burke

born almost a century ago, louise bourgeois has remained steadfastly at the vanguard of the development
of contemporary art for more than 70 years, and continues to create new bodies of work with characteristic
energy and restless innovation. throughout a career that has intersected with many of the leading avant-garde
movements of the 20th century, including surrealism, abstract expressionism, and post-minimalism,
she has remained resolutely committed to a singular creative vision.

arch of hysteria 1993, polished bronze – © louise bourgeois photo: christopher burke

although her oeuvre includes painting, drawing, printmaking, and performance, bourgeois is best known
for her sculptures, which range in scale from the intimate to the monumental, and across a diverse array
of mediums including wood, bronze, latex, marble, and fabric. moving freely between abstraction and figuration,
she has developed a richly symbolic visual idiom that encompasses totemic forms, ambiguously gendered
anatomical fragments, and towering spiders, as well as the assemblages of found objects that are encased
in her environmental-scale installations.

this exhibition is organized by the solomon r. guggenheim foundation in association with tate modern, london,

spider 2003, stainless steel and fabric – © louise bourgeois photo: christopher burke

untitled 1986 watercolour, ink, oil, charcoal and pencil on paper
© louise bourgeois photo: christopher burke

femme maison 1994, white marble – © louise bourgeois photo: christopher burke

louise bourgeois in 1990 with her marble sculpture eye to eye (1970).
© louise bourgeois photo: raimon ramis

guggenheim museum: http://www.guggenheim.org