Untitled, no. 1 of 3, from the series, The Voice Says Yes

Cat. No. 744, unique variant 5, in 1253

Untitled, no. 1 of 3, from the series, The Voice Says Yes

State/Variant:
Only state, unique variant
Date:
2009
Series:
The Voice Says Yes
Alternate Title:
My Inner Life
Themes
Abstraction, Fabric Works, Figures
Techniques
Etching
Support:
Paper
Dimensions:
plate: 59 11/16 × 35 9/16" (151.6 × 90.4 cm); sheet (approx.): 61 × 101" (154.9 × 256.5 cm)
Signature:
panel (c): "Louise / Bourgeois" lower right comp.
Publisher
Osiris
Printer
Wingate Studio
Edition:
Unique
Edition Information:
This is one of 7 unique variants outside the edition to incorporate this plate. They all include extensive hand additions and sometimes partial inking of the plate.

See Evolving Composition Diagram:
"My Inner Life (#1)"
"My Inner Life (#2)"
"My Inner Life (#3): Eugénie Grandet"
"My Inner Life (#5)"
Untitled, no. 1 of 3, from the series, "The Voice Says Yes" (This composition was originally titled "My Inner Life [#4]")
"I Go To Pieces: My Inner Life (#6)"
Untitled, no. 1 of 6, from the series, "I Give Everything Away"

About the "My Inner Life" edition:
Within the edition, selective wiping is consistent from impression to impression. Two impressions (8/9 and 9/9) have proofing of the "My Inner Life" plate on the verso. There is one known proof impression on the verso of "Elle," seen below in Related Works in the Catalogue.
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 hand additions and paper type could not be documented because this work is not in MoMA's Collection and could not be examined in person. The plate dimensions are from an impression in MoMA's Collection. The overall mediums and sheet dimensions for the series were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.

On the text panel, gouache is applied like correction fluid to cover unwanted marks.
Description:
panel (a): Fabric collage
panel (b): Pencil and mixed media
panel (c): Soft ground etching, with hand additions
Inscription:
panel (b): "The voice / says / yes" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
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

My Inner Life

2008-2010

States
My Inner Life
Unique Variants
My Inner Life (#1)
My Inner Life (#2)
My Inner Life (#3): Eugénie Grandet
My Inner Life (#5)
Untitled, no. 1 of 3, from the series, The Voice Says Yes
Untitled, no. 1 of 6, from the series, I Give Everything Away
I Go To Pieces: My Inner Life (#6)

Series

2009

The Voice Says Yes

Series

2010

I Give Everything Away

Related Works in the Catalogue

Inner Life
Untitled
Elle
Spiral Woman II
Turning Inwards
Untitled, no. 5 of 14, from À l'Infini (set 1)

Related Works in Other Mediums

Do Not Abandon Me
Female Portrait
Publication Excerpts

Louise Bourgeois,

The Voice Says Yes,

New York, Osiris, 2009

Bourgeois's entire text for this series appears on the panels cited below.

No. 1:
The voice
says
yes

No. 2:
say it
sign it
sing it
write it
shout it
howl it
but in your own way

No. 3:
I want the world to know
I want history to record it
I am calling you
you
you
you
you
It is my total
commitment
I want nothing else