Cat. No. 1260
What Hurts
- Date:
- 2007
- Themes
- Abstraction, Fabric Works, Nature
- Techniques
- Etching
- Support:
- See individual.
- Dimensions:
- Plate and sheet sizes vary. See individual.
- Signature:
- See individual.
- Publisher
- Osiris
- Printer
- Wingate Studio
- Edition:
- Unique
- Edition Information:
- The plates included in this series were also issued as separate editions. The titles of the editions are listed below and can be seen in the Evolving Composition Diagrams of their respective compositions:
"Knots"
"The Twist"
"The Unfolding" - Impression:
- Not numbered
- Background:
- Benjamin Shiff, the director of the Osiris imprint, collaborated with Bourgeois in a highly experimental phase of printmaking that occupied the last years of her life, from 2005 to 2010. He first established a working relationship with the artist in the 1990s, but the late period is particularly noteworthy for the innovative and complex large-scale projects that evolved at that time. Shiff made use of professional workshops for printing, but he oversaw the creation of the printing plates as Bourgeois worked on them in her home studio. He also provided assistance as she added extensive hand additions and texts, and as she combined individual compositions into multi-panel works and illustrated books.
- Curatorial Remarks:
- The plate dimensions are from the impressions in MoMA's Collection. The sheet dimensions were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.
- Description:
- Series of 2 compositions: soft ground etchings, with hand additions
- Installation Remarks:
- This series of 3 compositions constitutes a single work of art. All of these compositions are to be exhibited together in the indicated sequence.
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
From the series
Not in MoMA's Collection
Untitled, no. 1 of 2, from the series, What Hurts
2007
Not in MoMA's Collection
Untitled, no. 1 of 2, from the series,<i> What Hurts</i>
2007
Not in MoMA's Collection
Untitled, no. 2 of 2, from the series, What Hurts
2007
Not in MoMA's Collection
Untitled, no. 2 of 2, from the series,<i> What Hurts</i>
2007
Publication Excerpts
Louise Bourgeois,
What Hurts,
New York, Osiris, 2007Bourgeois's entire text for this series appears on the panels cited below.
No. 1:
to be hurt
or
the fear to be hurt
what hurts?
to be abandonned [sic]
to be criticized
to be attacked
to be asked too much
to be used
to be refused
to be found out
to fail
to be discouraged
to be ignored
to be laughed at
No. 2:
Distrust
tears
anger
withdrawl
Cry
Baby
The wounded lion