The Fruit Market Gallery - Edinburgh

Louise Bourgeois at The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh

“I Give Everything Away”

Between the year of 1911 – 2010, Louise Bourgeois worked with a wide range of materials, from stone and steel to rubber and fabric to make sculptures, installations, paintings, drawings and works in fabric.

This show brings in a selection of the artist’s graphic work including drawings, etchings and writing, all of which offer routes into her thinking. 

Louise Bourgeois is regarded as one of the most important artist of our time.

This is exciting for me because this has a large relation towards what I am looking into.

I have been looking at notes written by people to communicate with someone else, handwriting, graphology, psychology, human interaction and therapy.

The space was a comfortable environment to be in. 

One of the bad factors of this exhibition was that the lights were not bright enough in my opinion. 

The pages were rather yellow toned, preferred it if it was slightly brighter. 

This exhibition begins with “Insomnia Drawings” 1994-95, drawing Bourgeois made at night during an eight month period of insomnia, the inability to sleep.

She explained that “ drawings allow me to pinpoint and define my anxiety”, she drew to deflect the anxieties that were preventing her from sleeping.

It to me also shows a development in drawing, seeing into her mind, see what she sees or feels.

Some are related to one another and some drawings stand alone.

On this bottom floor, there were 220 drawings displayed. 

Some people who went to see the exhibition took their time to view each individual one for a short period of time, some sat on the benches and viewed from a far, some followed the line and glanced at them all briefly, this was because most of the artwork were rather similar to one another. 

Bourgeois used biros and felt-tip pens, pencils, ink and watercolors, and sometimes charcoal, gouache, wax crayons or chalk.

The paper she had to hand included musical manuscript paper, lined and colored paper.

During Bourgeois midlife, she was visiting a psychoanalyst in a regular basis

In her writing she addresses desires and failures, depressive states, longstanding anxieties and  the fallout from everyday experiences such as a frustrated attempt to share a bed with her husband, and her longer term rivalry with a fellow sculpture Louise Nevelson.

These for example are showing that there are developments happening as she draws.

Drawings are a practice in which she sought refuge during periods of mental stress

This was a text/poem that she wrote? It wasn't on display but was in the many books of hers that they displayed in the gallery

It makes you wonder about all the doodles you've done in life. Are they worth keeping?

What do your drawings say about you?

Upstairs Level

You could really see the emotional state she was in because she wrote next to her drawings. Short but effective statements.

I enjoyed the upper level a lot more because there were more text written by her next to her drawings. 

She uses a range of writing techniques, theres some where she writes all in capitals and others not. 

She writes big, some lazier than others. 

Some of her drawings on the upper level were a little morbid

Upstairs level was slightly better, the lights were brighter and whiter which clarified the pieces of artwork. Very spacious and comfortable to walk around in. 

 When she writes a question like this, after seeing all the drawings downstairs and upstairs, you have like a flashback of all the pieces and guessing what she might mean? 

Could you absorb all of someone's information, emotions and feel them yourself? put yourself in their shoes and relate in a much more deeper level?

This was a great visit, if you're in Edinburgh, go have a look. Ends 23 February 2014