Louise Bourgeois: The Fabric Works

by Germano Celant (Contributor)

A groundbreaking work, edited by Germano Celant in collaboration with the artist and her New York studio, which enriches our knowledge of Louise Bourgeois. Over a long career she worked through most of the twentieth century's avant-garde artistic movements from abstraction to realism, yet always remained uniquely individual, powerfully inventive, and often at the forefront of contemporary art. She was one of the world’s most respected sculptors, best known for her public-space pieces, grand-scale sculptures of spiders so large they must rest outside. But beginning in the 1960s, she used her own clothing and that of her loved ones as components of her sculptures and designs: a reincarnation of her childhood and her past. Her art would expand into new realms in 2002 when she began to weave together scraps of iridescent-colored fabric, creating works that vary from figures of flowers to chromatic abstractions, constituting a repertoire of truly surprising interweaves. This set of images is collected here in its entirety for the first time, constituting the closest thing yet to a general catalog.

Genres: Art, Feminism, Nonfiction

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Germano Celant (11 September 1940 – 29 April 2020) was an Italian art historian, critic, and curator who coined the term "Arte Povera" (poor art) in 1967.
Celant was the renowned curator of contemporary art at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, and artistic director at the Fondazione Prada in Milan.

On 29 April 2020, Celant died in Milan from COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. He was 79.

Reviews

[alana · Rating 5 out of 5]

ahhh, this is book is lovely and amazing! i was so excited when it finally arrived as i'd had it pre-ordered for ages.

the book focuses exclusively on louise's works in fabric which she created primarily in her last years. full-color images of both 2D and sculptural pieces created from her life-long wardrobe. consequently, the use of the fabrics evokes a narrative beyond the form of the finished image (many of which recall her familiar icons of spiders and birthing, etc). many installation views are also included. several images include related quotations and explanations from louise (in addition to the lengthy and informative introduction).

i cannot emphasize how yummy this book is for fans of louise bourgeois and fiber art/soft sculpture in general.

[Louise Silk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, love, love this book. She was an amazing artist. This book uses her own words and has fabulous photos. My reactions to reading the book and learning about her life are here:

http://bubbewisdom.com/2012/10/04/my-...

[Cauchy09 · Rating 4 out of 5]

an incredible feast.

[reading is my hustle · Rating 5 out of 5]

gasp. swoon. REPEAT.

One of my besties checked out a copy of this at Central library today and we were both mesmerized within seconds of opening this book- and that was on the sidewalk. She got to take it home and I am still in the holds queue. NO FAIR.

[Jackie Bos · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was not as dynamic of a visual representation of her works as I was hoping for.