LOUISE BOURGEOIS (1911-2010)
Louise Bourgeois was born in Paris in 1911, settling in America in 1938. She began exhibiting in New York in the 1940s and has played a vital role in contemporary art for over half a century. Her 1982 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York was the gallery’s first ever retrospective of a woman artist. Since then, Bourgeois has exhibited worldwide, producing a beguiling body of work featuring spiders, cages, architectural works, drawings and a number of found and sculpted objects ranging in scale from the intimate to the monumental. A recurring theme in her work is her troubled childhood, particularly her problematic relationship with her father. In 1993 she represented the USA at the Venice Biennale and was the first artist to have an exhibition at Tate Modern in 2000.
The book, accompanying a major retrospective touring exhibition, will provide an overview of Bourgeois’ entire career. It will be arranged as an A-Z, with entries covering individual works, art movements, other artists and themes that have played an important role in Bourgeois’ life and art. The entries are written by a stellar cast of internationally respected authors and critics, including Paulo Herkenhoff, Rosalind Krauss, Julia Kristeva, Donald Kuspit, Lucy Lippard, Mignon Nixon, Linda Nochlin, Alexander Potts, Robert Storr, Marina Warner and Deborah Wye. The book will include an illustrated biography, selected writings by the artist and a full chronology, making it the most thorough and up-to-date publication on the artist in print.
Frances Morris is Head of Collections (International Art) at Tate
Marie-Laure Bernadac is Chief Curator of Contemporary Art at the Musée du Louvre, Paris
Exhibition
Tate Modern, London 11 October 2007 - 20 January 2008
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris 19 February - 2 June 2008
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York Summer 2008
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles Autumn 2008
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC Winter 2008 - Spring 2009
