Extreme Tension!!!

Cat. No. 773, unique variant 1

Extreme Tension!!!

State/Variant:
Only state, unique variant
Date:
2006
Alternate Title:
Slipping Away
Themes
Body Parts
Techniques
Etching
Support:
Paper (3 attached sheets)
Dimensions:
plate (each): 55 13/16 × 15 5/16" (141.8 × 38.9 cm) (dimensions reflect full plate size; these are partial prints); sheet (overall): 54 1/2 × 64 3/4" (138.4 × 164.5 cm)
Signature:
panel (a): "Louise Bourgeois." lower center comp., pencil.
panel (c): "LB" lower right comp., pencil.
Publisher
Osiris
Printer
Wingate Studio
Edition:
Unique
Edition Information:
This is one of 4 unique variants that incorporate this plate, printed alone or in combination with another plate in a multi-panel work. When the plate is used alone, the work is included in the Evolving Composition Diagram. When it is printed with another plate, it is included in Related Works in the Catalogue.

See Evolving Composition Diagram:
"Extreme Tension!!!"
"Extreme Tension!!"
Untitled, no. 6 of 11, from the series, "Extreme Tension"

See Related Works in the Catalogue:
"À Qui La Faute"

"Slipping Away" was not issued as a published edition. There are 2 known cancellation proofs, each with a large "X" drawn across the composition from each corner of the plate.
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.
Description:
panel (a): Soft ground etching, with red watercolor additions
panel (b): Pencil
panel (c): Soft ground etching, with red watercolor additions
Inscription:
panel (b): "EXTREME / TENSION!!!" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Slipping Away

2006-2007

States
Slipping Away
Unique Variants
Extreme Tension!!!
Extreme Tension!!
Untitled, no. 6 of 11, from the series, Extreme Tension

Series

2007

Extreme Tension

Related Works in the Catalogue

Marriage, plate 5 of 24, from the series, Self Portrait
À Qui la Faute
Untitled
Hands
Don't Swallow Me!
Untitled, no. 1 of 11, from the series, Extreme Tension
My Hand

Related Works in Other Mediums

Give or Take
Décontractée