Cat. No. 164

Reaching for You, no. 13 of 16, from the series, Do Not Abandon Me

Date:: 2009-2010
Series:: Do Not Abandon Me

Themes: Body Parts, Fabric Works, Figures, Motherhood & Family
Techniques: Digital
Support:: Fabric
Dimensions:: sheet: 24 x 30" (61 x 76.2 cm)
Signature:: "Tracey Emin" left lower margin, pencil.
"LB" right lower margin, stitched in red thread.
Publisher: Carolina Nitsch Editions
Printer: Dyenamix
Edition:: 18; plus 6 A.P., 1 H.C.
Edition Information:: There are additional impressions of the compositions Bourgeois incorporated in "Do Not Abandon Me." She utilized the digital printing process to work with this imagery in varying sizes and formats for multiple projects in 2009 and 2010. These projects include the fabric collage "Eternity," the illustrated book "To Whom It May Concern," and unique fabric prints.

MoMA's Collection includes the master set of digital prints of Bourgeois's drawings for "Do Not Abandon Me," with the hand-drawn additions by Emin (MoMA Accession Number: 17.2012.1-16). This set is called "the middle step" by The Louise Bourgeois Studio, because it was then digitally printed to produce the editioned work. It is not illustrated in this catalogue because the digital printing process captured it in precise detail in the editioned set.

A trade edition of "Do Not Abandon Me" was published in a limited edition of 1,500 by Carolina Nitsch, New York. It accompanied the exhibition "Louise Bourgeois and Tracey Emin, Do Not Abandon Me 2009-10" held at the Carolina Nitsch Project Room, New York, from September 10 to October 23, 2010, and at Hauser & Wirth, London, from February 18 to March 22, 2011.
Impression:: H.C. 1/1
Background:: Carolina Nitsch, the publisher of this series, approached Bourgeois with the idea of a project in which Bourgeois would create images for a book in collaboration with a writer. Bourgeois suggested British artist Tracey Emin as a possible collaborator on a more general project. Bourgeois had met British artist Tracey Emin and she had enjoyed Emin's memoir "Strangeland."

Bourgeois began the series by drawing male and female forms in profile with crayon, colored pencil, gouache, and watercolor on paper. The fabric printing workshop Dyenamix digitally printed these drawings onto fabric.

Bourgeois sent the fabric digital prints to Emin in London. Emin, encouraged to take any approach, added ink drawings and handwritten texts to each composition. Emin used a transfer technique that results in some reversals of the text throughout the series. Emin then sent the compositions back to Bourgeois in New York, where Dyenamix editioned the final series of 16 digital prints on fabric from the collaboratively-conceived images.

Tracey Emin was born in London in 1963. She was shortlisted for Britain's Turner Prize in 1999, represented Britain at the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007, and was the subject of a major retrospective exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in 2008.
Curatorial Remarks:: Bourgeois's initial drawing for this print is reproduced as the Source work in the Evolving Composition Diagram below. By comparing Bourgeois's drawing with the final composition, it is possible to distinguish the elements added by Tracey Emin, printed in black.

Due to the nature of the mounting and framing of this work, the verso could not be examined. In this case, the impression number was provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.
Collaborating Artist:: Tracey Emin
Description:: Digital print
Installation Remarks:: The prints in this series can be shown as a group or individually. There is no required sequence.
MoMA Credit Line:: Gift of the artists
MoMA Accession Number:: 18.2012.13