Sunday 9 May 2010

Louise Bourgeois drawings

Yesterday my partner and I visited the Arnolfini in Bristol where there is currently a show of drawing by Otto Zitko and Louise Bourgeois. I found myself unable to respond to the work by Otto Zitko; expansive drawings made in blue paint covering walls and ceilings, but able to engage with the sixty small drawings made by Louise Bourgeois. The drawings seemed to be made in paint and charcoal, and perhaps pastel, and were intimate in size. They represented a series of grids, spirals, shell forms and what appeared to be the edge of blue water, or perhaps an open hand. They were pared down to basic elements, yet were sensuous and lyrical. I found in myself a sense of wonder that drawing could be like this, and also a great sense of reassurance. The series is entitled Je T'aime and the exhibition guide quotes Louise Bourgeois's words regarding the drawings as being "about the marking of time while waiting for someone special to arrive".
On the opposite wall of the small gallery in which the drawings were shown, was a drawing from 1946, a line drawing in pencil, showing the consumption of one human figure by another.
The exhibition guide describes drawing as "being the most fundamental vehicle of creative expression"... and in relation to the work of Louise Bourgoise, as "an obsessive daily activity, done on any kind of paper and in any medium".


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