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The Arts Intel Report

Louise Bourgeois: I Do, I Undo, I Redo

Louise Bourgeois, Sainte Sébastienne, 1992.

Mar 14 – Apr 30, 2024
13 Rue de Téhéran, 75008 Paris, France

“Painting never existed for me,” said Louise Bourgeois, who is most famous for the huge goth spider sculptures she created in honor of her mother. Yet despite her painting aversion, the drawn image looms large in her oeuvre. Bourgeois first recorded her ambiguous figures in diaries, and played with engraving frequently over the years. In 1990, she created her own Sainte Sébastienne—a female version of the martyr pierced by arrows—by photocopying and transferring her drawing onto a copper plate. At Galerie Lelong, these works, including Sainte Sébastienne, take center stage. —Elena Clavarino

Photo: © Louise Bourgeois/courtesy of Galerie Lelong & Co.