Louise Bourgeois

Louise Bourgeois, Maman, 1999

This piece is a selection of quotes by Louise Bourgeois from an interview done in the 1980s.  I just want to say, really quickly, before I get back to my objective summary, that I was super excited when I read the first sentence of the biography of Bourgeois because it said that she studied art and math!  Yay, another odd art/math person like myself.  Anyway, in these quotes, Bourgeois talks about her relationship to art and how she sees it as "a privilege, a blessing, a relief" (1089).  She sees it as a privilege that she is able to access her subconscious, and almost sees this access as a call to duty to create art.  She recognizes this access can be painful and can never be escaped from, but she appreciates it because it allows her to make art that is important to her.  
Bourgeois also clarifies that for her art is not about art, it is about life.  She maintains that art will always be modern: "Everywhere in the modern world there is neglect, the need to be recognized, which is not satisfied.  Art is a way of recognizing oneself, which is why it will always be modern" (1090).