Louise Bourgeois Structures of Existence: The Cells - Hardcover

Julienne Lorz

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3791354078 ISBN 13: 9783791354071

Publisher: Prestel, 2015

Synopsis

Like the majority of Bourgeois's pieces, her series of Cells are at once enigmatic and extremely personal. Constructed during the last two decades of the artist's life, these complex and sophisticated works are daring and provocative. Many are small enclosures into which the viewer is prompted to peer inward at arrangements of symbolic objects; others are small rooms into which the viewer is invited to enter. In her Cell pieces, Bourgeois uses earlier sculptural forms, found objects, and personal items that held significant meaning for her. Six Cells from throughout the series are given close scrutiny, revealing the enormous diversity of Bourgeois's vision as well as recurring themes of physical and emotional pain; voyeurism; integration; and disintegration. A section of colour reproductions includes images and details of the entire series. Together with extensive essays on the Cells' evolution and an interview with the artist's assistant, Jerry Gorovoy, this volume offers a holistic appreciation of a crucial phase in Bourgeois's highly influential career.

About this title

Review:

"Louise Bourgeois was one of the most prolific and well-known artists of the 20th century . . . Among the most unique and complex artworks in her extensive, innovative oeuvre are the "Cells," a series of installations composed of everyday found objects and personal items . . . situated within idiosyncratic enclosures . . . to represent different types of pain: physical, emotional, psychological, mental, and intellectual."

-- The Boston Globe
"Documents the comprehensive survey, unlikely ever to be repeated, of this series of installation works . . . [Bourgeois's] walk-in environments . . . suggest the interior of the artist's mind."

-- Bookforum
"The ultimate guide to one of Bourgeois's foremost and holistic works."

-- The Boston Globe

About the Author:

Julienne Lorz is Curator at Haus der Kunst in Munich, Germany.

About this edition

• Publisher: Prestel
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 3791354078
• ISBN 13: 9783791354071
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288