Louise Bourgeois

One of the main reasons I still log in to Twitter is Womens Art, which provides a steady stream of work by female artists.

One of their perennial favourites is Louise Bourgeois, whose art I hadn't seen before and have been inspired to look for more.

I like the variety of art Bourgeois produced, including sculpture and installations, as well as the wry observation.

I also like how progressive she seems to have been. This might be a generalisation but it does seem like many male artists grow more conservative as they age, whereas there are many female artists that grow increasingly bold.

Bourgeois battled against gender inequality in the arts and, at the age of 98 in 2010,  donated an edition of 300 prints to raise money for marriage equality.

It seems interesting that this remains a battle in Australia, which has yet to satisfactorily resolve the debates and narrowly avoided going to an expensive plebiscite that was planned for next month.

The print "I do" symbolised Bourgeois' view of this issue:

"Everyone should have the right to marry," Bourgeois said in a release by Freedom to Marry. "To make a commitment to love someone forever is a beautiful thing."

 I also like this from the Wikipedia information on Bourgeois:

Bourgeois aligned herself with activists and became a member of the Fight Censorship Group, a feminist anti-censorship collective founded by fellow artist Anita Steckel. In the 1970s, the group defended the use of sexual imagery in artwork. Steckel argued, “If the erect penis is not wholesome enough to go into museums, it should not be considered wholesome enough to go into women.”

Thanks Womens Art for introducing me to Louise Bourgeois' artwork.