Cat. No. 543 (multiple)

Choker

Date:: 1999-2003

Themes: Objects
Techniques: Other Techniques
Dimensions:: overall: 2 x 7 1/2 x 6" (5.1 x 19.1 x 15.2 cm)
Signature:: "LB" back of choker, stamped.
Publisher: Louise Bourgeois
Edition:: 39
Edition Information:: Chus Burés, the fine jewelry designer, fabricated the edition. Bourgeois designed the necklace with holes to allow the addition of further ornamentation if desired. As such, Burés created an optional set of crystals that can be hung from the holes in the front of the choker. According to the Louise Bourgeois Studio, Burés sent the artist a set of crystals and is offering the set with each choker he distributes.
Impression:: "1/39" back of choker, stamped.
Background:: This multiple was done after a unique choker necklace Bourgeois made around 1948. In the artist's personal photograph, included in Related Works in Other Mediums below, Bourgeois is seen wearing the choker at a restaurant with her father around the year it was made.

The idea for the edition was introduced while the artist was working on the 1999-2000 exhibition "Louise Bourgeois: Memory and Architecture" at the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid, Spain. The exhibition's curator, Danielle Tilkin, introduced the artist to her friend Chus Burés, the fine jewelry designer, who expressed interest in working with Bourgeois.

Upon its completion in 2003, Helmut Lang, the fashion designer and friend of the artist, included the choker in his spring/summer line.
Description:: Multiple of silver
Other Remarks:: Seen below, in Related Works in Other Mediums, is the test printing of a distressed plate, with the choker drawn upon it in red ink and pencil. Bourgeois may have even traced the actual object onto the paper. Printer Felix Harlan, of Harlan & Weaver, New York, remembers printing tests for the artist from older plates to determine if they were suitable for future projects. The plate seen in this test printing was eventually used for the Untitled composition of an eight-headed creature (see Cat. No. 517).