Reading an article the other day I found that Louise Bourgeois and Tracey Emin have collaborated together to produce the exhibition 'Do not Abandon Me' which is showing from February 17th - March 12th 2011 in Hauser Writh Gallery, London.
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Tracey Emin and Louise Bourgeois
I am so excited to see this exhibition, I have always loved Louise Bourgeois's work ever since I saw her exhibition at the Tate Modern a few years ago. The French/American sculptor's interest in the female body and how it is constructed, dehumanised and objectified is a current theme throughout her work initiating a sense of estrangement through disturbing poses and missing limbs. Bourgeois was open about the emotional effect her Father's long standing affair with her live-in tutor had on her which is used as a focal point throughout her career. |
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| Louise Bourgeois - Spiral Woman |
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Louise Bourgeois - Seven In a Bed
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When questioned about the inspiration for her work she replied, “everything I create comes from something personal; some memory or personal experience.” This is why the collaboration between Bourgeois and Emin is so beautifully complimentary. Emin is another artist who openly uses painful personal memories to contribute to her work. She talks about her mother drumming into her from a young age, "Whatever you do don't have a baby, it will destroy your life." Like Bourgeois, Emin didn't have the most stable upbringing her mother met Emin's father whilst he was still married to another women, and he is reported to have father at least 23 other children, which catapulted the family into poverty.
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| Tracey Emin - Baby Things |
The work of Emin is a display of raw emotion especially the collection, 'baby things' where she cast baby clothes in bronze and then painted over them to make them look more real. Emin has never had children, she grew up in Margate where she was raped at 13 and although she was pregnant twice in her twenties, which was a shock after being told by doctors she was left infertile after contracting Gonorrhoea when she was a teenager, she had both pregnancies terminated in very painful abortions, the first had complications and afterwards she was left very ill and the second had been twins however the smaller foetus was missed which meant that a few days after it slid down her leg when walking down the street . These harrowing experiences are often referred to in her art work however the delicate and vulnerable effect of some work such as the 'Baby Things' contrasts against the immense periods of instability and self loathing that she has confessed to.
There are a lot of critics who publicly wish Emin to just shut up about the abortions, rape at 13 and saying personal things such as everyone she has ever slept with as by presenting herself as a victim it makes her work harder to criticise. This is something that people have publicly been critical about Bourgeois work as well.
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| 'Just Hanging': Emin and Bourgeois |
The collaboration 'Do Not Abandon Me' begun when Bourgeois sent Emin paintings of female and male torso's in profile on paper mixing red, blue and black pigments with water to create striking and bold yet delicate shapes. Bourgeois passed these images to Emin who has admitted she was too scared to add to the images for a long time. Emin added to Bourgeois paintings by drawing smaller figures and writing that creates a sort of narrative to the emotions explored between the pair.
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| 'Just Died At Birth' Bourgeois and Emin |
The drawings portray the inner feelings and emotions that are hidden through conforming identity and stereotypes that people feel on an every day basis but still they are taboo subjects and are never talked about. It confronts issues of sexuality, relationships and the fear of loss. Maybe it is quite nice that Bourgeois could finally collaborate with another artist confronting issues that effected her life and art before her death last year. Its definitely going to be worth seeing! I just can't wait!
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| 'I Wanted to Love You More' Bourgeois and Emin |
