The Telephone Call from the Slammer, no. 1 of 9, from the series, What Is the Shape of This Problem?

Cat. No. 659

The Telephone Call from the Slammer, no. 1 of 9, from the series, What Is the Shape of This Problem?

State/Variant:
Component A: state II of II; component B: only state
Date:
1999
Series:
What Is the Shape of This Problem?
Themes
Abstraction, Words
Techniques
Lithography, Relief
Support:
Smooth, wove Arches paper
Dimensions:
sheet (component A): 12 × 17" (30.5 × 43.2 cm); sheet (component B): 12 × 17" (30.5 × 43.2 cm)
Signature:
"LB" right lower sheet (each), pencil.
Publisher
Galerie Lelong , Galerie Lelong
Printer
SOLO Impression
Edition:
25; plus 14 A.P. (3 are isolated pairs of text-image diptychs), 4 P.P., 3 T.P., 2 H.C., 1 B.A.T.
Edition Information:
In an unusual numbering system for the A.P.s, numbers 1-11 were given to complete sets, but numbers 12, 13, and 14 were given to isolated pairs of text-image diptychs, according to printer Judith Solodkin of SOLO Impression. Solodkin does not recall which specific diptychs were numbered 12, 13, and 14.
Impression:
"AP 2" left lower sheet (each), pencil, unknown hand.
Background:
The text in this series was taken from Bourgeois's diary entries, spanning some forty years. The images are based on drawings created in the 1990s. Printer Judith Solodkin of SOLO Impression made photo-enlargements of the drawings and transferred them to letterpress plates.
Curatorial Remarks:
This series was reproduced on a set of note cards as a merchandise item. A tote bag merchandise item was made from no. 9.
Description:
Letterpress and lithograph
State Changes and Additions:
Matrices, component A:
Plate 1: horizontal ringlets; letterpress, printed in light red.
Plate 2: horizontal ringlets; lithography, printed in dark red.
Plate 3: rectangle; lithography, printed in blue.

State Changes, component A:
Plate 3, printed over plate 2, printed over plate 1.
Changes from state I, by grinding: stray lines removed from between ringlets.
Changes from state I, in lithography: ringlets reinforced with wider strokes and rectangle added in center composition.
Installation Remarks:
Each diptych in this series constitutes a single composition and must be exhibited in a vertical configuration as illustrated, or alternatively, with the text on top of the image. The diptychs in the series may be exhibited together or separately, and there is no required sequence.
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
135.2000.2a-b
This Work in Other Collections:
Graphische Sammlung ETH Zürich, Switzerland
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Tate Modern, London
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

The Telephone Call from the Slammer , no. 1 of 9, from the series, What Is the Shape of This ...

1999

Source

1998

Untitled
Component A
The Telephone Call from the Slammer, no. 1 of 9, component A, from the series, What Is the Shape of This Problem?
The Telephone Call from the Slammer, no. 1 of 9, component A, from the series, What Is the Shape of This Problem?
Component B
The Telephone Call from the Slammer, no. 1 of 9, component B, from the series, What Is the Shape of This Problem?
Diptych
The Telephone Call from the Slammer, no. 1 of 9, from the series, What Is the Shape of This Problem?

Series

1999

What Is the Shape of This Problem?

Related Works in the Catalogue

Crochet III, from the series, Crochet I-V

Related Works in Other Mediums

Untitled, no. 167 of 220, from the series, The Insomnia Drawings
Thumping
Untitled
Publication Excerpts

Louise Bourgeois,

What Is the Shape of This Problem?,

New York: Galerie Lelong, 1999

No. 1 of 9
The telephone call from the slammer