Reparation

Cat. No. 1225

Reparation

State/Variant:
Only state, variant
Date:
1991
Themes
Abstraction
Techniques
Lithography, Other Techniques
Support:
Smooth, wove Lana Gravure and Arches paper
Dimensions:
sheet: 9 15/16 × 10 11/16" (25.3 × 27.1 cm)
Signature:
Not signed
Publisher
unpublished
Printer
SOLO Impression
Edition:
2 known impressions of the only state, outside the edition
Edition Information:
Proof before the editioning of the only state.

Both known impressions of the only state outside the edition are on larger sheets and are not bound into the journal.
Impression:
Not numbered
Background:
"Parkett" magazine approached Bourgeois with the suggestion of featuring her, with the artist Robert Gober, in one of its issues. This project was to be a part of a series in which artists were paired, each being represented by a selection of reproductions and articles, as well as by a multiple work, which would be reproduced in the pages of the magazine and also available in a signed and limited special edition. In Bourgeois's case, the special edition consisted of the multiple bound in, in place of the reproduction. A regular edition of the magazine included the reproduction bound in. Other works considered by Bourgeois for this project are listed and can be seen below in Related Works in the Catalogue:
"The Age of Condom Come"
"Appointment at 11:00 am"
"Fabrication I"

Bourgeois asked SOLO Impression, New York to help produce the edition. Solodkin printed the paper yellow to match the source, while the blue paper was hand-colored after it was torn. Her colleague Rebecca Lax used templates to match the tears, piercings, and stitches of the original.

The artist did several collaborations with Parkett over the years. In 1999, plate 8 of 9, from Bourgeois's illustrated book, "Ode à Ma Mère" was reproduced across the spines of issues nos. 55, 56, and 57. In 2008, the artist contributed an edition called "The Maternal Man" for issue no. 82. Both these works can be seen in Related Works in the Catalogue below.
Curatorial Remarks:
In Wye and Smith, "The Prints of Louise Bourgeois," 1994, p. 161, it states that the paper is printed blue by lithography, when in fact it was hand colored with acrylic paint after it was torn.
Former Cat. No.:
W & S 90
Description:
Multiple of printed and hand-colored paper, handtorn, pierced, and sewn with thread
Artist’s Remarks:
"Sewing implies repairing. There is a hole... you have to hide the damage... you have to hide the urge to do damage. There is a background of drama here... that something bad you have done must be undone. I sew... I do what I can. This goes back to my mother... she repaired things... she repaired everything. But there is a limit to that. When you mend things, it allows you to have your hands occupied, to look intensely, and never meet the eyes of other people. You can even be moral about it... you can appear to do things for others... you can say, 'I am repairing your clothes.'"

Of the color of the patch she said: "The softness of the blue represents hope." (Quotes cited in Wye, Deborah and Carol Smith. "The Prints of Louise Bourgeois." New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994, p. 161)
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
536.1993
This Work in Other Collections:
Getty Research Institute
Laumeier Sculpture Park, Saint Louis, MO
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Reparation for Parkett no. 27

1991

Source

1989

Reparation (recto)

Source

1989

Reparation (verso)
States
Reparation
Reparation (for Parkett no. 27)

Related Works in the Catalogue

The Maternal Man (for Parkett no. 82)
Untitled, plate 8 of 9, from the illustrated book, Ode à Ma Mère
Appointment at 11:00 a.m.
Fabrication I
The Age of Condom Come

Related Works in Other Mediums

Mending
Untitled
Untitled